DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4265#0122
OF A RUIN AT SALONICA, CALLED THE INCANTADA.
121
husband, who, having verified his suspicions, resolved to take a dreadful revenge on the deluder. He had
in his train a skilful necromancer from Pontus, who, discovering by his art the. instant that Alexander
was to pass to the queen's apartment, scattered his spells and charms throughout this gallery; they were
of such marvellous power, that whoever should, at a certain hour, attempt to pass, would inevitably be
converted into stone. Aristotle, a conjurer attached to Alexander, and of skill greatly superior to the
man of Pontus, discovered his danger time enough to prevent it: by his advice and entreaties, Alex-
ander was prevailed on to forbear for once his appointed visit. The impatient queen, tired with expecta-
tion, sent one of her confidential servants to see if her lover was coming, and she herself soon followed.
At this instant, the king, supposing the magic had worked all its effect, issued forth, attended by his
conjuror, to feast his eyes with a sight of the revenge he had taken ; when, strange to relate, both
companies, those with the king, as well as those with the queen, were instantly changed to stone, and
remain to this hour a monument of vengeance on a jealous husband and an unfaithful wife.
Several churches are to be seen in Thessalonica, which were built by the Constantinopolitan
Emperors, now converted into Moscheas by the Turks. These churches, and a triumphal arch still
remaining, are said to have been erected in honour of Theodosius, a. d. 890, and prove that the
decay of empire and of arts kept a pretty equal pace with each othera.
tccture in Franco was more recklessly demolished to make place
for the fortifications of the new citadel of Bourdeaux, deliberately
constructed by Vauban, and no architect, either of the city or
government, has preserved for posterity the details of so noble a
monument.
It appears by the design of Perrault, that the edifice chiefly con-
sisted of twenty-four columns, four feet and a half (French mea-
sure) in diameter, arranged as a parallelogram on the plan, of which
eight were presented at each front and six at each side, and seven-
teen were standing at the period of its destruction. They were
raised, with intercolumniations of seven feet, on a double stylobata
or basement, the interior of the lower part of which was occupied
in modern times as a wine-cellar, while the upper stylobata was
solid, the platform on which, within the columns, was in modern
times used as a garden. The entire edifice at the level of the co-
lumns appears to have been constructed without walls or pilasters,
and the whole superstructure was consequently supported by the
columns only. The principal feature, however, which consti-
tuted the important resemblance to the Incantadas, was an attic
having open spaces between piers or pilasters sustained by co-
lumns, and with Caryatid figures on the front and back of these
pilasters, wrought in high relief similar to those at Salonica.
From the mouldings above the heads of these figures arches
were turned from pilaster to pilaster, and in the spandrels be-
tween these arches Perrault observed vases wrought in relief;
he says, " Au dessus dc l'imposte il y avoit un vase dont le pie
cstoit en pointc a la manierc des Urnes ou les anciens mettoient
les cendres des morts," that is, resembling amphorae, symbols of
death, on Greek sepulchral monuments. All the upper part of
the building both within and without, like the Incantadas, was
decorated in the same manner on each side the columns, and was
intended to be equally seen from below. The whole edifice was
crowned with an architrave-cornice in the mode of the monu-
ment before us, and there was as well no indication that it was
ever covered with a roof. Vinet, who in .15/4 described
this enigmatical building, said he saw at Eure, the ancient Ebora
in Portugal, a similar relic of antiquity, the purpose of which was
also unknown. Durand in his ' Parallele des Edifices', has re-
stored the ruin we have just dilated on, with a roof, and with
Perrault he classes it with Basilicse. We, however, are disposed
to view it as a monument of a different character. It stood
according to Vinet, without the ancient city of Bourdigala, and
the lower basement was not appropriate for habitation. There is
an analogy with its arrangement in many ancient tombs, as well
as in those at Pompeii, where may be observed the crypt below and
the ornamental monument above ; and the mausoleum at Mylassa
having a sepulchral basement, with an open quadrangular co-
lonnade above, has a characteristic resemblance to the Tutellcs.
In the absence, therefore, of all other evidence regarding the
1 If Revett attempted to restore what remained of the inscription from nearly obliterated characters, it may have contained the word
remarks on the inscription at note c in the following page.
VOL. III.
original purpose of the Macedonian ruin, we may be permitted to
hazard a conjecture resulting from the previous comparison, that
it is part of a sepulchral monument; in opposition to which notion
no argument can be deduced from the sculpture, since in the time
of the Csesars, when we may suppose this edifice to have been
raised, figures of the class decorating this building are seen as or-
naments to numerous sarcophagi, and the word TF.rENHMENON "
'genitum' introduced by Revett on the architrave, might fairly
be supposed a part of a sepulchral inscription.
Regarding the date of the Incantadas, the swelled and fluted
frieze, the mouldings in the soffits of the architraves, the bases with
plinths, the pedestals, and their peculiar proportion to the co-
lumns, denote a period when Grecian architecture was in-
fluenced by Roman practice, but the good style of the sculpture
determines that the a;ra of its execution was not posterior
to that of the Antonines.
The shafts of the columns are each formed from a single
block of Cipollino marble, and the other parts of the structure
from the produce of the quarries of Pentelicus.
Vide Pococke's Desc. of the East, V. II. P. II. PL LXIV. p.
150. Villoison, Memoire lu a l'Acad. des Ins. en 1787- Tome
XLVI I. p. 309. Trad, de Vitruve par Perrault, seconde Ed. 1684,
p. 219. E. Vinet, l'Antiquite de Bourdeaux 1574, et E. Vinet
Comm. in Auson.,p. 210. Durand, Parallele des Edifices, PI. XV.
Mazois, Ruines de Pompeii. Ionian Antiq., V. II. PI. XXIV.
Clarke's Travels, P. II. S. III. C. XI. Preface and notec at
page 9 of this Vol. CKD-]
a Among the principal ruins of ancient Thessalonica are the
remains of two triumphal arches which stood at the extremities
of an ancient street originally traversing the city from east
to west. That to the east was erected after the battle of Phi-
lippi in honour of Octavius and Antony ; it is called the Arch of
Augustus; the greater part of it is now buried beneath an accu-
mulation of soil. It is built with marble, and many of the
sculptured decorations, which are said to be in good taste, and
an inscription, still remain on it. The arch at the opposite ex-
tremity of the great street is supposed to be that of Constantine;
which, according to Pococke, was upwards of a hundred feet in
front; it was perforated by three arches; the interior construction
is of brick, but the exterior was gorgeously decorated with sculp-
tured marble. Dr. Clarke, with a qualification as to the taste of the
workmanship, says, " There is no instance known of a triumphal
arch that was more richly adorned with sculpture." Dr. Pococke
likewise gives a plan of a rotunda, which is supposed to have
been built under Trajan, upwards of seventy feet in interior di-
ameter, lighted from above like the Pantheon at Rome. In the
space between the rotunda and the sea, was the Hippodrome, an
area in the form of an ellipse, whose axes were 520 yards by 160,
to the west of which was the Palace of Dioclesian, the vestiges
MttiftiTsr, ' Monument.' See
[ED.]
H H
121
husband, who, having verified his suspicions, resolved to take a dreadful revenge on the deluder. He had
in his train a skilful necromancer from Pontus, who, discovering by his art the. instant that Alexander
was to pass to the queen's apartment, scattered his spells and charms throughout this gallery; they were
of such marvellous power, that whoever should, at a certain hour, attempt to pass, would inevitably be
converted into stone. Aristotle, a conjurer attached to Alexander, and of skill greatly superior to the
man of Pontus, discovered his danger time enough to prevent it: by his advice and entreaties, Alex-
ander was prevailed on to forbear for once his appointed visit. The impatient queen, tired with expecta-
tion, sent one of her confidential servants to see if her lover was coming, and she herself soon followed.
At this instant, the king, supposing the magic had worked all its effect, issued forth, attended by his
conjuror, to feast his eyes with a sight of the revenge he had taken ; when, strange to relate, both
companies, those with the king, as well as those with the queen, were instantly changed to stone, and
remain to this hour a monument of vengeance on a jealous husband and an unfaithful wife.
Several churches are to be seen in Thessalonica, which were built by the Constantinopolitan
Emperors, now converted into Moscheas by the Turks. These churches, and a triumphal arch still
remaining, are said to have been erected in honour of Theodosius, a. d. 890, and prove that the
decay of empire and of arts kept a pretty equal pace with each othera.
tccture in Franco was more recklessly demolished to make place
for the fortifications of the new citadel of Bourdeaux, deliberately
constructed by Vauban, and no architect, either of the city or
government, has preserved for posterity the details of so noble a
monument.
It appears by the design of Perrault, that the edifice chiefly con-
sisted of twenty-four columns, four feet and a half (French mea-
sure) in diameter, arranged as a parallelogram on the plan, of which
eight were presented at each front and six at each side, and seven-
teen were standing at the period of its destruction. They were
raised, with intercolumniations of seven feet, on a double stylobata
or basement, the interior of the lower part of which was occupied
in modern times as a wine-cellar, while the upper stylobata was
solid, the platform on which, within the columns, was in modern
times used as a garden. The entire edifice at the level of the co-
lumns appears to have been constructed without walls or pilasters,
and the whole superstructure was consequently supported by the
columns only. The principal feature, however, which consti-
tuted the important resemblance to the Incantadas, was an attic
having open spaces between piers or pilasters sustained by co-
lumns, and with Caryatid figures on the front and back of these
pilasters, wrought in high relief similar to those at Salonica.
From the mouldings above the heads of these figures arches
were turned from pilaster to pilaster, and in the spandrels be-
tween these arches Perrault observed vases wrought in relief;
he says, " Au dessus dc l'imposte il y avoit un vase dont le pie
cstoit en pointc a la manierc des Urnes ou les anciens mettoient
les cendres des morts," that is, resembling amphorae, symbols of
death, on Greek sepulchral monuments. All the upper part of
the building both within and without, like the Incantadas, was
decorated in the same manner on each side the columns, and was
intended to be equally seen from below. The whole edifice was
crowned with an architrave-cornice in the mode of the monu-
ment before us, and there was as well no indication that it was
ever covered with a roof. Vinet, who in .15/4 described
this enigmatical building, said he saw at Eure, the ancient Ebora
in Portugal, a similar relic of antiquity, the purpose of which was
also unknown. Durand in his ' Parallele des Edifices', has re-
stored the ruin we have just dilated on, with a roof, and with
Perrault he classes it with Basilicse. We, however, are disposed
to view it as a monument of a different character. It stood
according to Vinet, without the ancient city of Bourdigala, and
the lower basement was not appropriate for habitation. There is
an analogy with its arrangement in many ancient tombs, as well
as in those at Pompeii, where may be observed the crypt below and
the ornamental monument above ; and the mausoleum at Mylassa
having a sepulchral basement, with an open quadrangular co-
lonnade above, has a characteristic resemblance to the Tutellcs.
In the absence, therefore, of all other evidence regarding the
1 If Revett attempted to restore what remained of the inscription from nearly obliterated characters, it may have contained the word
remarks on the inscription at note c in the following page.
VOL. III.
original purpose of the Macedonian ruin, we may be permitted to
hazard a conjecture resulting from the previous comparison, that
it is part of a sepulchral monument; in opposition to which notion
no argument can be deduced from the sculpture, since in the time
of the Csesars, when we may suppose this edifice to have been
raised, figures of the class decorating this building are seen as or-
naments to numerous sarcophagi, and the word TF.rENHMENON "
'genitum' introduced by Revett on the architrave, might fairly
be supposed a part of a sepulchral inscription.
Regarding the date of the Incantadas, the swelled and fluted
frieze, the mouldings in the soffits of the architraves, the bases with
plinths, the pedestals, and their peculiar proportion to the co-
lumns, denote a period when Grecian architecture was in-
fluenced by Roman practice, but the good style of the sculpture
determines that the a;ra of its execution was not posterior
to that of the Antonines.
The shafts of the columns are each formed from a single
block of Cipollino marble, and the other parts of the structure
from the produce of the quarries of Pentelicus.
Vide Pococke's Desc. of the East, V. II. P. II. PL LXIV. p.
150. Villoison, Memoire lu a l'Acad. des Ins. en 1787- Tome
XLVI I. p. 309. Trad, de Vitruve par Perrault, seconde Ed. 1684,
p. 219. E. Vinet, l'Antiquite de Bourdeaux 1574, et E. Vinet
Comm. in Auson.,p. 210. Durand, Parallele des Edifices, PI. XV.
Mazois, Ruines de Pompeii. Ionian Antiq., V. II. PI. XXIV.
Clarke's Travels, P. II. S. III. C. XI. Preface and notec at
page 9 of this Vol. CKD-]
a Among the principal ruins of ancient Thessalonica are the
remains of two triumphal arches which stood at the extremities
of an ancient street originally traversing the city from east
to west. That to the east was erected after the battle of Phi-
lippi in honour of Octavius and Antony ; it is called the Arch of
Augustus; the greater part of it is now buried beneath an accu-
mulation of soil. It is built with marble, and many of the
sculptured decorations, which are said to be in good taste, and
an inscription, still remain on it. The arch at the opposite ex-
tremity of the great street is supposed to be that of Constantine;
which, according to Pococke, was upwards of a hundred feet in
front; it was perforated by three arches; the interior construction
is of brick, but the exterior was gorgeously decorated with sculp-
tured marble. Dr. Clarke, with a qualification as to the taste of the
workmanship, says, " There is no instance known of a triumphal
arch that was more richly adorned with sculpture." Dr. Pococke
likewise gives a plan of a rotunda, which is supposed to have
been built under Trajan, upwards of seventy feet in interior di-
ameter, lighted from above like the Pantheon at Rome. In the
space between the rotunda and the sea, was the Hippodrome, an
area in the form of an ellipse, whose axes were 520 yards by 160,
to the west of which was the Palace of Dioclesian, the vestiges
MttiftiTsr, ' Monument.' See
[ED.]
H H