Fletcher, Banister - A History of Architecture (Part I)

Page 227

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE.

V.

Roofs. Extreme care was bestowed upon the elaborately constructed, and highly-finished,

D.

25),

Roofs. — The noble vaults and domes described on page 117 important development, and in many cases were richly coffered, as at the constituted the

These roofs of the temples. were of timber framing (Nos. 23 and

167

Pantheon (Nos.

and were covered with

54, 55).

Timber

large slabs of marble with coverpieces which at the eaves were finished with richly carved antefixae (Nos. 16, ig c and 20 h, j). The acroteria or blocks of stone resting on the vertex and lower extremities of the pediment, and supporting statuary or ornaments were characteristic features (Nos. 16 A, 20). The ceilings of the peristyles were

framing also appears to have been employed, and according to Horace, splendid wooden

in stone with square or rectangular panels (No. 21), having carved enrichments, the richest examples being at the Parthenon (No. 23) and the Temple of Apollo Epicurius (No. 27). Coffered ceilings in

employed, which it is believed were constructed of T-iron and

coffered ceilings were employed Roof in the houses of the rich. coverings were either of terracotta, as amongst the Etruscans, or of bronze in the more important buildings, as for example the Pantheon. According to Vitruvius flat terrace roofs were

coff'ered

framed timber probably roofed over the large span of the cella. E.

Columns. — The structural

orders were

necessities

wherever

used. The column and beam are the keynotes of Greek architecture, the fluting being carried out when the columns were in position.

Orders never superimposed except to interiors of Temples (Nos. 20, The only 23, 28 B and 31 d).

Greek use of pedestals appears of the Temple Ephesus (No. 31).

to be

that

Diana

at

of

concrete, as in some of the larger halls of the Therms. The ceilings internally were of various geometric patterns, such as octagons and squares in combination, as at Baalbec.

E.

Columns The orders were usedin connection with the arch, and gradually

lost their structural importance, being used in a decorative manner, as in the Colosseum at Rome, or in the

Triumphal Arches. Orders often superimposed, as at the Colosseum (No. 62 a). The Romans introduced pedestals on which they placed the column to secure greater height.

A canon of rules

proportions, reduced to

by Vitruvius, was gradually

evolved for

all

the orders.

The Tuscan

The Tuscan Order has a

The

The

Order, which is merely a simplified form of the Doric, was not employed by the Greeks.

Doric Order (No. 38 a) was by the Greeks, their most important buildings being

largely used

plain unfluted column and simple S. entablature (No. 262 b). Paul, Covent Garden, is a good modern example by Inigo Jones

Doric Order (No. 38 b), was used by the Romans, not being suited to their ideas of

little


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.