DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42497#0389
III.]
Ou the Details of Roman Architecture.
83
front and three on the flanks ; the cornice a fluted corona, but
no dentels; the architrave two faces ; the entablature is one-quarter
and a third of the height of the columns; the frieze is orna-
mented with griffins, admirably sculptured. This may be con-
sidered the last pure building in Rome. After it there were but few
great works carried out, and these at long intervals, all shewing
a falling-off from the true principles of Roman architecture. The
chief of these were the Antonine Column, the Arch of Septimius Seve-
rus, the thermae of Caracalla, and those of Diocletian. Constan-
tine’s reign, a time of great activity, produced many edifices in which
the traditions of art were altogether neglected. Occasionally, good
details are to be seen, as in his Triumphal Arch (Photo. 1344), but
these were evidently taken from the earlier structuresr. In his Bap-
tistery, the usual proportions of the Composite order are no longer
to be seen; the cymatium and corona are smaller than the lower
members of the cornice j the architrave is deeper than the cornice,
and it has a curved and sculptured moulding in the place of an
upper fascia; and in the order of his Basilica the corona was omitted
altogether. The dome began to play a prominent part, especially
in Ecclesiastical Architecture, and being transplanted by the em-
peror to his eastern capital, it became the chief feature in the
Byzantine style.
In conclusion, it may be remarked, that in Rome, as in other
cities, at all ages of the world, the periods of the best government,
those of Augustus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Antoninus Pius,
were those in which the purest and most classical architecture
flourished.
r See Note L, at the end of this Section.
Ou the Details of Roman Architecture.
83
front and three on the flanks ; the cornice a fluted corona, but
no dentels; the architrave two faces ; the entablature is one-quarter
and a third of the height of the columns; the frieze is orna-
mented with griffins, admirably sculptured. This may be con-
sidered the last pure building in Rome. After it there were but few
great works carried out, and these at long intervals, all shewing
a falling-off from the true principles of Roman architecture. The
chief of these were the Antonine Column, the Arch of Septimius Seve-
rus, the thermae of Caracalla, and those of Diocletian. Constan-
tine’s reign, a time of great activity, produced many edifices in which
the traditions of art were altogether neglected. Occasionally, good
details are to be seen, as in his Triumphal Arch (Photo. 1344), but
these were evidently taken from the earlier structuresr. In his Bap-
tistery, the usual proportions of the Composite order are no longer
to be seen; the cymatium and corona are smaller than the lower
members of the cornice j the architrave is deeper than the cornice,
and it has a curved and sculptured moulding in the place of an
upper fascia; and in the order of his Basilica the corona was omitted
altogether. The dome began to play a prominent part, especially
in Ecclesiastical Architecture, and being transplanted by the em-
peror to his eastern capital, it became the chief feature in the
Byzantine style.
In conclusion, it may be remarked, that in Rome, as in other
cities, at all ages of the world, the periods of the best government,
those of Augustus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Antoninus Pius,
were those in which the purest and most classical architecture
flourished.
r See Note L, at the end of this Section.