DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4264#0034
34
OF THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA,
And may we not conjecture, that the Peplus of Minerva3, in the Parthenon, and the Parapetasma of /
of wood which are applicable to them, seemed to have been very
usual in Greece. However, we are too deficient in information on
this part of the construction of temples, to enable us to affirm
that they would never have raised coverings to them of arch-
formed carpentry (charpente cintree). " I am even disposed to
think that the Temple of Olympia was covered in this manner.
I support this inference by the passage where Strabo, speaking of
the Colossus placed within the Temple, says that the god being
seated, his head seemed to touch the summit of the covering,
airwVw ie o-xiSnri t$ xopupj) t?; JpopSt, and further on he adds
that if he raised himself, he would have broken through the cover-
ino- of his temple. Thus it appears to be proved that the part of
the temple where the god was, in the first place, had a roof,
secondly, was ornamented with a ceiling. I translate by ceiling
the word opopi; but when Strabo says t« y.oovtpii t?; opop??, the
summit of the ceiling, it seems to me that these words indicate
a curved ceiling (plafond cintre): in fact it is but a circular co-
vering (partie circulaire) which can have a summit. It is in
consequence of this information that on the plate of the front-
ispiece to this work, where I have represented Jupiter on his
throne and in his temple, that I have hazarded to design the co-
vering of the interior in the manner of an arch (en facon de
voute). I have there also shewn a portion of the window of the
roof, (fenetreducomble)as well as of the crimson curtain (voile de
pourpre) which falling before the statue, would have preserved it
from the influence of the external air." Notwithstanding how-
ever this reasoning of that superior writer on ancient art, we
cannot in this instance give credit to him either for a conformity
with a soundness of criticism, or for a distinguished refinement of
taste, in giving internally, the form of an arched ceiling (en facon
de voute), to an edifice of the age of Pericles. So gross an anachro-
nism as the introduction of the representation of a type or prin-
ciple then unknown, can scarcely be contemplated with gravity.
At the great Temple of Eleusis, though not described as hypae-
thral, Plutarch mentions that there was a double range of columns
below and above, and that the architect Xenocles constructed
the roof with an openingover the ceiling of the sanctuary, to SI o^aTor
tvl roiJ uvccKTopov £e*okA>?s e>xopvQvat, but the author of the Antiquities
of Attica observes, " the hiratm was probably the Lacunaria, or
ornamental ceiling over the sanctuary, formed into pannels by
timbers crossing each other, similar to that of the Propylaea al-
ready described," and again remarks " we may consider the oVaiw as
implying the intertignia, formed by an ornamental frame-work of
timbers crossing each other at right angles, which Xenocles sur-
mounted with a roof covered with marble tiles." Quatremere,
however, with the ancient interpreters, gives as the version of the
above passage " Xenocles constructed an opening in the roof of
the sanctuary," which the English commentator considers would
not be a circumstance worthy to record. Leaving it to abler
critics to determine whether opopi, or oVa?oy, was the term chiefly
applied to the ceiling or lacunaria of Grecian temples; it how-
ever remains certain, that ornamental lacunaria were generally
introduced horizontally beneath the roof; it may therefore, not
be taking too great a latitude to imagine them, though of a less
permanent construction, to have equally been applied to the hy-
pcCthral portion of this temple, leaving only an orifice or perforation
open to the sky for the supply of an adequate quantity of light ;
of which, the opening or ' foramen' of the Pantheon of Rome,
though under very different circumstances of construction, but
possibly deduced through a long chain of varied imitation, may
be an example, originating from remote prototypes in Greece.
Ovid observed on the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, that it had
a small aperture in the roof " exiguum templi tecta foramen habent;"
and Varro says that the roofs of temples of Jupiter were per-
forated " ejus perforatum tectum ;" but Vitruvius requires the
middle of the Hypaethros to be without a roof " sine tecto", con-
sequently the covering necessary to protect the statue must have
been of a less permanent character than the roof over other parts
of the Edifice. Le Jupiter Olympien, p. 267- Plutarch in
Peric. Antiquities of Attica, c. iv. p. 31. Ovid Fast. 11. 671.
Varr. de Ling. Lat. lib. iv. rED -.
» Meursius has collected from ancient authors many particu-
1 It has been observed that no author previous to Philostratus in his life of Herodes snMl-, f ,1 , • , ,■ , , ,
with the supposed early customs of the Athenians. See Leake's Topography. F "f "'C 5h'P aS ",e Vel"cle of ,lie
lars concerning this Peplus: see his ' Panathenaica,' and ' Reli-
quiae Att.' &c. It was the work of young virgins selected from
the best families in Athens, over whom two of the principal,
called ' Arrephorae,' were superintendents. (See Plate XIII.
Fig. 5. and likewise the Inscription in Plate III. Fig. 10.) It was
a principal ornament of the Panathenai'c festival; on it was em-
broidered the battle of the gods and giants; amongst the gods
was Jupiter hurling his thunderbolts against that rebellious crew,
and Minerva, seated in her chariot, appeared the vanquisher of
Typhon or Enceladus. (See the chorus at the end of the second
Act of the Hecuba.) The names of those Athenians who had
been eminent for military virtue, were also embroidered on it.
When the festival was celebrated, this Peplus was brought from
the Acropolis, where it had been worked, down into the city; it
was then displayed and suspended as a sail to the ship ', which,
on that day, attended by a numerous and splendid procession,
was conducted through the Ceramicus and other principal streets,
till it had made the circuit of the Acropolis; the Peplus was
then carried up to the Parthenon, and there consecrated to Mi-
nerva. That it did-not serve to clothe or envelope the statue of
the goddess, but to hang over it, is evident from what Pollux has
observed on this word : IIeVaos 'lo-dnj/.a. xai ra. 'df/.oix. rtsVAav &' sari
oiirXovv T»?f wua-v, w? IvSvvai r£ ycii STri@a.\}\£o,§Gci. y.a.1 on smp'^.viu.u. so-Tt
riKu.ripa.ir a.v ti? £)£ raw rri^ AQyvccs ttsttAwv. J. Foil. B. V 11. C A.111.
' Peplus, a garment and the like, the use of it is two-fold, to
wear as a garment, or to cover something; that it signifies a co-
vering, we may conclude from the Pepli of Minerva.' Had the
Peplus been intended to clothe the statue, or to hang before it
like a curtain, Pollux would not have used the words eVijSaMw*.
8a>, and irfigXypa.; therefore it must have been intended to hang
above it as an awning to keep off the dust; and if the temple
was an hypaethros, to preserve it from the weather. Homer like-
wise uses ' Peplus' in the same sense, when Pandarus tells
iEneas he had left his chariots at home covered with Pepli.
Iliad E. v. 194. But it no where appears more clearly, than in
the following quotation from the Ion of Euripides, that the word
Peplus is sometimes used to signify a covering, or what in our
sea-phrase is called an awning, spread over an open space to keep
off the sun. For the better understanding of this passage, it'
seems not amiss to premise, that Xuthus, induced by the answer
of the oracle to acknowledge Ion for his son, prepares to go from
Delphi to the top of Parnassus, and there, grateful for the disco-
very, offer a sacrifice to Bacchus. Before his departure he com-
mands Ion to erect a tent, and therein feast, during his absence,
what friends remain at Delphi.
•— o 0; vsavias
Ee^/.vw£ aToip/o'j; ttepi^oXo.^ ayr^u^ccruv
OpQoo-rccrais iSpus®', h\iov cpXoyoq
KaAw? (pL'Aa|af, ours 7rpo$ [*saa; (3o\a.;
Axtm-o?, ovr av ttpo$ rsXsvruaa.^ @ioy, y.. r. A.
Instant at his behest the pious youth
Uprears th' enclosure of the ample tent,
Framed to exclude the sun's meridian blaze,
Or the mild splendour of his parting ray.
No wall he raised; the neighb'ring woods afford
Supporters apt, without the mason's aid.
Ranged in right lines, the numerous stakes extend
In length a hundred feet, in breadth a hundred ;
Enclosing, as the skilful say, a square
Of full ten thousand feet; in which to feast
All Delphi, he prepares the genial board.
Then from the treas'ry of the god he takes
The consecrated tap'stry, splendid woof!
To clothe with grateful shade the wondrous scene.
First o'er the roof he spreads the skirted Peplus
(The skirts on ev'ry side hang waving down),
Spoil of the Amazons, the votive gift
That Hercules, heroic son of Jove,
Return'd from conquest, offer'd to Apollo.
On this rich produce of the loom are wrought
The Heav'ns, within whose spacious azure round
■ !
spacious azure re
Peplus, a mode not consonant
[ED.]
OF THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA,
And may we not conjecture, that the Peplus of Minerva3, in the Parthenon, and the Parapetasma of /
of wood which are applicable to them, seemed to have been very
usual in Greece. However, we are too deficient in information on
this part of the construction of temples, to enable us to affirm
that they would never have raised coverings to them of arch-
formed carpentry (charpente cintree). " I am even disposed to
think that the Temple of Olympia was covered in this manner.
I support this inference by the passage where Strabo, speaking of
the Colossus placed within the Temple, says that the god being
seated, his head seemed to touch the summit of the covering,
airwVw ie o-xiSnri t$ xopupj) t?; JpopSt, and further on he adds
that if he raised himself, he would have broken through the cover-
ino- of his temple. Thus it appears to be proved that the part of
the temple where the god was, in the first place, had a roof,
secondly, was ornamented with a ceiling. I translate by ceiling
the word opopi; but when Strabo says t« y.oovtpii t?; opop??, the
summit of the ceiling, it seems to me that these words indicate
a curved ceiling (plafond cintre): in fact it is but a circular co-
vering (partie circulaire) which can have a summit. It is in
consequence of this information that on the plate of the front-
ispiece to this work, where I have represented Jupiter on his
throne and in his temple, that I have hazarded to design the co-
vering of the interior in the manner of an arch (en facon de
voute). I have there also shewn a portion of the window of the
roof, (fenetreducomble)as well as of the crimson curtain (voile de
pourpre) which falling before the statue, would have preserved it
from the influence of the external air." Notwithstanding how-
ever this reasoning of that superior writer on ancient art, we
cannot in this instance give credit to him either for a conformity
with a soundness of criticism, or for a distinguished refinement of
taste, in giving internally, the form of an arched ceiling (en facon
de voute), to an edifice of the age of Pericles. So gross an anachro-
nism as the introduction of the representation of a type or prin-
ciple then unknown, can scarcely be contemplated with gravity.
At the great Temple of Eleusis, though not described as hypae-
thral, Plutarch mentions that there was a double range of columns
below and above, and that the architect Xenocles constructed
the roof with an openingover the ceiling of the sanctuary, to SI o^aTor
tvl roiJ uvccKTopov £e*okA>?s e>xopvQvat, but the author of the Antiquities
of Attica observes, " the hiratm was probably the Lacunaria, or
ornamental ceiling over the sanctuary, formed into pannels by
timbers crossing each other, similar to that of the Propylaea al-
ready described," and again remarks " we may consider the oVaiw as
implying the intertignia, formed by an ornamental frame-work of
timbers crossing each other at right angles, which Xenocles sur-
mounted with a roof covered with marble tiles." Quatremere,
however, with the ancient interpreters, gives as the version of the
above passage " Xenocles constructed an opening in the roof of
the sanctuary," which the English commentator considers would
not be a circumstance worthy to record. Leaving it to abler
critics to determine whether opopi, or oVa?oy, was the term chiefly
applied to the ceiling or lacunaria of Grecian temples; it how-
ever remains certain, that ornamental lacunaria were generally
introduced horizontally beneath the roof; it may therefore, not
be taking too great a latitude to imagine them, though of a less
permanent construction, to have equally been applied to the hy-
pcCthral portion of this temple, leaving only an orifice or perforation
open to the sky for the supply of an adequate quantity of light ;
of which, the opening or ' foramen' of the Pantheon of Rome,
though under very different circumstances of construction, but
possibly deduced through a long chain of varied imitation, may
be an example, originating from remote prototypes in Greece.
Ovid observed on the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, that it had
a small aperture in the roof " exiguum templi tecta foramen habent;"
and Varro says that the roofs of temples of Jupiter were per-
forated " ejus perforatum tectum ;" but Vitruvius requires the
middle of the Hypaethros to be without a roof " sine tecto", con-
sequently the covering necessary to protect the statue must have
been of a less permanent character than the roof over other parts
of the Edifice. Le Jupiter Olympien, p. 267- Plutarch in
Peric. Antiquities of Attica, c. iv. p. 31. Ovid Fast. 11. 671.
Varr. de Ling. Lat. lib. iv. rED -.
» Meursius has collected from ancient authors many particu-
1 It has been observed that no author previous to Philostratus in his life of Herodes snMl-, f ,1 , • , ,■ , , ,
with the supposed early customs of the Athenians. See Leake's Topography. F "f "'C 5h'P aS ",e Vel"cle of ,lie
lars concerning this Peplus: see his ' Panathenaica,' and ' Reli-
quiae Att.' &c. It was the work of young virgins selected from
the best families in Athens, over whom two of the principal,
called ' Arrephorae,' were superintendents. (See Plate XIII.
Fig. 5. and likewise the Inscription in Plate III. Fig. 10.) It was
a principal ornament of the Panathenai'c festival; on it was em-
broidered the battle of the gods and giants; amongst the gods
was Jupiter hurling his thunderbolts against that rebellious crew,
and Minerva, seated in her chariot, appeared the vanquisher of
Typhon or Enceladus. (See the chorus at the end of the second
Act of the Hecuba.) The names of those Athenians who had
been eminent for military virtue, were also embroidered on it.
When the festival was celebrated, this Peplus was brought from
the Acropolis, where it had been worked, down into the city; it
was then displayed and suspended as a sail to the ship ', which,
on that day, attended by a numerous and splendid procession,
was conducted through the Ceramicus and other principal streets,
till it had made the circuit of the Acropolis; the Peplus was
then carried up to the Parthenon, and there consecrated to Mi-
nerva. That it did-not serve to clothe or envelope the statue of
the goddess, but to hang over it, is evident from what Pollux has
observed on this word : IIeVaos 'lo-dnj/.a. xai ra. 'df/.oix. rtsVAav &' sari
oiirXovv T»?f wua-v, w? IvSvvai r£ ycii STri@a.\}\£o,§Gci. y.a.1 on smp'^.viu.u. so-Tt
riKu.ripa.ir a.v ti? £)£ raw rri^ AQyvccs ttsttAwv. J. Foil. B. V 11. C A.111.
' Peplus, a garment and the like, the use of it is two-fold, to
wear as a garment, or to cover something; that it signifies a co-
vering, we may conclude from the Pepli of Minerva.' Had the
Peplus been intended to clothe the statue, or to hang before it
like a curtain, Pollux would not have used the words eVijSaMw*.
8a>, and irfigXypa.; therefore it must have been intended to hang
above it as an awning to keep off the dust; and if the temple
was an hypaethros, to preserve it from the weather. Homer like-
wise uses ' Peplus' in the same sense, when Pandarus tells
iEneas he had left his chariots at home covered with Pepli.
Iliad E. v. 194. But it no where appears more clearly, than in
the following quotation from the Ion of Euripides, that the word
Peplus is sometimes used to signify a covering, or what in our
sea-phrase is called an awning, spread over an open space to keep
off the sun. For the better understanding of this passage, it'
seems not amiss to premise, that Xuthus, induced by the answer
of the oracle to acknowledge Ion for his son, prepares to go from
Delphi to the top of Parnassus, and there, grateful for the disco-
very, offer a sacrifice to Bacchus. Before his departure he com-
mands Ion to erect a tent, and therein feast, during his absence,
what friends remain at Delphi.
•— o 0; vsavias
Ee^/.vw£ aToip/o'j; ttepi^oXo.^ ayr^u^ccruv
OpQoo-rccrais iSpus®', h\iov cpXoyoq
KaAw? (pL'Aa|af, ours 7rpo$ [*saa; (3o\a.;
Axtm-o?, ovr av ttpo$ rsXsvruaa.^ @ioy, y.. r. A.
Instant at his behest the pious youth
Uprears th' enclosure of the ample tent,
Framed to exclude the sun's meridian blaze,
Or the mild splendour of his parting ray.
No wall he raised; the neighb'ring woods afford
Supporters apt, without the mason's aid.
Ranged in right lines, the numerous stakes extend
In length a hundred feet, in breadth a hundred ;
Enclosing, as the skilful say, a square
Of full ten thousand feet; in which to feast
All Delphi, he prepares the genial board.
Then from the treas'ry of the god he takes
The consecrated tap'stry, splendid woof!
To clothe with grateful shade the wondrous scene.
First o'er the roof he spreads the skirted Peplus
(The skirts on ev'ry side hang waving down),
Spoil of the Amazons, the votive gift
That Hercules, heroic son of Jove,
Return'd from conquest, offer'd to Apollo.
On this rich produce of the loom are wrought
The Heav'ns, within whose spacious azure round
■ !
spacious azure re
Peplus, a mode not consonant
[ED.]