DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4266#0083
OF THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO EPICURIUS. 15
The restoration of the part above the cornice over the sculpture is not hazarded. We are
too ignorant of the precise arrangement of the compluvium of the Greek temple, and the various
fragments are too little decidedly appropriate, to offer a sufficient or satisfactory conclusion on this
point.
The frieze of the Ionic order was enriched by a basso-relievo extending round the four sides
of the cella to a length of one hundred and one feet, composed of twenty-three slabs 5 two feet one inch
high, varying in length from two feet eight inches to five feet ten inches; and attached to the block
that backed them by means of metal ties, which perforated the holes now perceptible in each slab of
the frieze.
This interesting frieze illustrates the fabulous histories, so often recorded by the Grecian
artists, the war of the Greeks and Amazons, and the contest between the Centaurs and Lapithae; the
former represented on twelve slabs, having the direction of the subject from left to right, and the
latter sculptured on eleven slabs, having a direction of the figures from right to left.
It is not the object of the present remarks to enter into a dissertation upon these sculptures
which now form part of our natural collection, and are so ably described by the pen of Mr. Taylor
Combea of the British Museum, but solely to offer a few observations upon their leading points con-
nected with the date of the interior of the edifice.
Ictinus having erected both this temple and the Parthenon at Athens, it has been natural to
attribute the relievos of the Temple of Bassae, to the age if not to the creative genius of Phidias, the
artist who superintended the sculpture of the Parthenon ; but the two friezes appear to me to indicate
two different styles and two distinct epochs of art. The subject of the Parthenon represents the
solemn approach of a religious procession to consecrate the offering of their homage with becoming
awe in the fane of their protecting deity. In that procession every sentiment is that of calm serenity,
every expression that of tranquil benevolence, every movement that of deliberate ease. There, like
the majestic mass of the stately fabric, the Athenians added another tribute to the dignified majesty
of the daughter of Jove, and immortalized an act instituted in her honour. The frieze of Bassae,
however, seems to serve more as an architectural enrichment, not immediately connected with the god
to whom the temple is consecrated. Instead of the calm simplicity that reigns in the peristyle without,
here the sculptor follows up the daring contrast afforded by the architectural decorations within, and,
by a rapid succession of vigorous action and energetic grouping, embodying all the horrors of per-
sonal conflicts, the individual or collective acts of heroism, the savage unrelenting barbarity of the
victor, the despair of the vanquished, or the accumulated bodies of the dead, drives from the mind
of the spectator that tranquillity of feeling which should be the prevailing sentiment of the interior
of a temple. The proportions of the figures are frequently not sufficiently considered, the heads often
large and without expression, the limbs short and stout. It may be urged that the same pecu-
liarities of proportions prevail in the marbles from iEgina, but, though the figures in them are also
short and muscular, they have a certain delicacy and refinement of finish in each limb, and a peculiarity
of expression in the features, that considerably diminish the bad effect resulting from disproportion,
and proves them to be of a very different period. Most of the groupes in this frieze are boldly con-
ceived, and display great knowledge of composition, and considerable vigor of effect, a better ac-
quaintance with the general theory of the art, than with the minutiae of individual form. This latter
quality is the first result of the laborious and continued study of the primitive elements of the art;
but the power of composition, that more developed faculty of invention, is the fruit of ages of study
and of a thorough acquaintance with the human figure, and generally outlives the decline of indivi-
dual beauty of form. Thus in architecture many of the plans of the public buildings of the latter
Caesars, such as the Baths and the Fora, as much surpassed in composition the plans of the simple
» A Description of the Collection of Ancient Marbles in the British Museum. With Engravings. Part IV. 4to. London, 1820.
The restoration of the part above the cornice over the sculpture is not hazarded. We are
too ignorant of the precise arrangement of the compluvium of the Greek temple, and the various
fragments are too little decidedly appropriate, to offer a sufficient or satisfactory conclusion on this
point.
The frieze of the Ionic order was enriched by a basso-relievo extending round the four sides
of the cella to a length of one hundred and one feet, composed of twenty-three slabs 5 two feet one inch
high, varying in length from two feet eight inches to five feet ten inches; and attached to the block
that backed them by means of metal ties, which perforated the holes now perceptible in each slab of
the frieze.
This interesting frieze illustrates the fabulous histories, so often recorded by the Grecian
artists, the war of the Greeks and Amazons, and the contest between the Centaurs and Lapithae; the
former represented on twelve slabs, having the direction of the subject from left to right, and the
latter sculptured on eleven slabs, having a direction of the figures from right to left.
It is not the object of the present remarks to enter into a dissertation upon these sculptures
which now form part of our natural collection, and are so ably described by the pen of Mr. Taylor
Combea of the British Museum, but solely to offer a few observations upon their leading points con-
nected with the date of the interior of the edifice.
Ictinus having erected both this temple and the Parthenon at Athens, it has been natural to
attribute the relievos of the Temple of Bassae, to the age if not to the creative genius of Phidias, the
artist who superintended the sculpture of the Parthenon ; but the two friezes appear to me to indicate
two different styles and two distinct epochs of art. The subject of the Parthenon represents the
solemn approach of a religious procession to consecrate the offering of their homage with becoming
awe in the fane of their protecting deity. In that procession every sentiment is that of calm serenity,
every expression that of tranquil benevolence, every movement that of deliberate ease. There, like
the majestic mass of the stately fabric, the Athenians added another tribute to the dignified majesty
of the daughter of Jove, and immortalized an act instituted in her honour. The frieze of Bassae,
however, seems to serve more as an architectural enrichment, not immediately connected with the god
to whom the temple is consecrated. Instead of the calm simplicity that reigns in the peristyle without,
here the sculptor follows up the daring contrast afforded by the architectural decorations within, and,
by a rapid succession of vigorous action and energetic grouping, embodying all the horrors of per-
sonal conflicts, the individual or collective acts of heroism, the savage unrelenting barbarity of the
victor, the despair of the vanquished, or the accumulated bodies of the dead, drives from the mind
of the spectator that tranquillity of feeling which should be the prevailing sentiment of the interior
of a temple. The proportions of the figures are frequently not sufficiently considered, the heads often
large and without expression, the limbs short and stout. It may be urged that the same pecu-
liarities of proportions prevail in the marbles from iEgina, but, though the figures in them are also
short and muscular, they have a certain delicacy and refinement of finish in each limb, and a peculiarity
of expression in the features, that considerably diminish the bad effect resulting from disproportion,
and proves them to be of a very different period. Most of the groupes in this frieze are boldly con-
ceived, and display great knowledge of composition, and considerable vigor of effect, a better ac-
quaintance with the general theory of the art, than with the minutiae of individual form. This latter
quality is the first result of the laborious and continued study of the primitive elements of the art;
but the power of composition, that more developed faculty of invention, is the fruit of ages of study
and of a thorough acquaintance with the human figure, and generally outlives the decline of indivi-
dual beauty of form. Thus in architecture many of the plans of the public buildings of the latter
Caesars, such as the Baths and the Fora, as much surpassed in composition the plans of the simple
» A Description of the Collection of Ancient Marbles in the British Museum. With Engravings. Part IV. 4to. London, 1820.