of six columns in front, and two on each flank still exists, not indeed
entire, but so as to exhibit almost every part. These columns are of
cipollino, and are very beautiful, but have been terribly maltreated by
those who at one period made them part of their habitations. Parts of
the sides also remain, exhibiting the construction of the wall of great
blocks of peperino, apparently once covered with marble. The frieze is
beautiful, but I need not tell you about a thing which has been so often
figured and described. The cornice is, I believe, the only good ancient
example of the Corinthian order, which has neither dentils nor
modillions, indeed, in all the parts, we find a breadth and simplicity
of character which was hardly to be expected in the age of the
Antonines.
On the same side of the way is the Church of the Saints Cosmo and
Damiano, said to have been anciently the temple of Romulus and Remus.
The entrance is by a plain, but handsome, ancient bronze door. It is
however, doubtful, whether this belonged originally to the building. By
this, you pass into the vestibule, a circular room covered with a dome,
the width and height of which in the present state, are about equal, but
the pavement has been considerably raised. This is, I think, all that
can pretend to any relation with the ancient temple, and whether it was
really a temple dedicated to Romulus and Remus, must remain doubtful.
Here were discovered the fragments of the marble plan of Rome, now
deposited in the Capitol. Beyond this is a nave of the seventeenth
century, erected by Urban the Eighth; at least what we see internally is
of that period. Externally, we may discover some ancient walls of great
blocks of peperino, but not sufficient, or not sufficiently exposed, to
enable us to understand their distribution. Beyond the nave is the
ancient tribune, covered with mosaics. The Roman antiquaries consider
the dedication of this church to two brothers, a proof that the original
building was a temple of two brothers, and consequently of Romulus and
Remus. Unfortunately, the ancient church had no connexion with the
vestibule, which is the only remaining part of Roman times, and the
union was not effected till the restorations by Urban the Eighth. The
argument therefore makes against their proposition. The old walls of
peperino may indeed have belonged to such a temple, but neither do these
appear to have had any connexion with the circular building in front.
Nearly opposite to this, (but we have already passed a little too far)
are three columns of Jupiter Stator, or of Castor and Pollux, or of the
Comitia, for all these names have been assigned to them. The Roman
antiquaries are much more successful in oppugning the opinions of
others, than in establishing their own. However, the plan which has been
pretty completely discovered by the excavations lately made, determines
it, although deficient in the usual number of columns at the sides, to
have been a temple; and the opinions of the wise seem to lean to Castor
and Pollux, as rebuilt by Tiberius, though I believe some other notions
are still floating among them. The vulgar call it by the name of Jupiter
Stator, and we will if you please follow the vulgar, as this is the name
by which it is most generally known. Whatever it was, we may fairly
pronounce it to have been the most perfect building of which any remains
now exist in Rome. I do not mean the most beautiful, for in that, tastes
may differ; but that in which science, skill, and attention, have been
most carefully and invariably employed in the design, in the drawing,
and in the execution. In the capitals of Mars Ultor, the arrangement of
the division of the leaves is differently managed, even in parts of the
same capital, apparently from mere inattention; in the fragment of
Jupiter Tonans, though the execution was laboured to excess, yet some
parts of the drawing are faulty; and in the portico of the Pantheon, the
execution was so much neglected, that no two intercolumniations are
exactly alike; there are considerable differences in the capitals, and
in the pediment there is one modillion more on one side than on the
other. There is no appearance of any of these faults in Jupiter Stator,
and there are no other buildings we can put into comparison with it,
unless it be the Forum of Trajan, of which we have not sufficient
remains to enable us fairly to institute a parallel. Of the general
design indeed, we have hardly in any case materials for judging, but the
plan and disposition of this temple, bear at least evidence of a careful
consideration. The building is of white marble, so that the substance,
as well as the workmanship, contributed to the effect of magnificence.
The entablature is finely proportioned. It is decidedly Roman in taste,
which some persons perhaps may think a defect, and others consider a
beauty. The frieze is plain, while one band of the architrave is
ornamented; this deviation from the usual practice does not seem to me
well judged. In the Erectheum at Athens, we find a plain frieze
accompanied with a great deal of ornament, not on, but below the
architrave; but in that case the frieze was of black marble, and though
now unadorned, the holes in it prove it to have been once enriched with
figures of metal, probably of gilt bronze. There is no appearance of any
thing of this sort in the temple of Jupiter Stator. The foliage of the
capital is extremely different from that of the Pantheon, or indeed of
any other example in Rome, presenting much broader and flatter surfaces
to the light; whether this is better or worse, I will not pretend to
determine, but I may assert that the present is very beautiful. The
upper tooth of each division of the leaves hardly crosses the lower side
of the division above; the second touches without crossing. Mons.
Caristie of the French Academy, is at present engaged in making a
restoration of this building, and for that purpose following out the
minutest details with the greatest care and accuracy; it was he who
pointed out to me many of the particulars I am going to mention.
You know that the shaft of a column usually enlarges a little at the
bottom, and terminates in a fillet above the base. This enlargement,
with the fillet, is called the _apophysis_, and may usually be described
in the section, by a quarter of a circle, of an inch or two radius, but
in this example, the curve seems to be that of an extremely eccentric
ellipsis, extending some feet up the shaft, and influencing its general
form, so as to reduce it to a continued flowing serpentine line, from
top to bottom. This curvature is so gentle, as not to be perceptible
without the most careful examination, but nevertheless, has its effect
in giving grace and elegance to the columns. It is quite a mistake to
suppose that a variation of form, not immediately cognizable by the eye,
must therefore be useless; every artist has felt, that these slight
changes influence the beauty of the composition, without being
themselves obvious, even to a skilful observer. These columns have stood
upon a continued pedestal, and under that, is another, or sub-pedestal,
containing an arched opening under each intercolumniation. Each pedestal
has had its own cornice. In front a flight of twenty-eight steps led
from the Via sacra up to a portico of eight columns. This flight of
steps was singularly divided into three parts, by two masses of masonry,
or pedestals, as perhaps we may call them, of the height of the
sub-pedestal. The middle, and by much the largest portion, continued in
a straight line from top to bottom; the two side ones were turned
laterally.
The solid construction of this temple was as remarkable as the
disposition of its basement. Under all the columns and walls, the
masonry was formed with great blocks of travertine, and similar blocks
formed the external circuit of the building. The greater part of the
intermediate spaces was filled up with rubble work. The travertine has
been an object of plunder, and the walls are now traced by the vacancies
between the masses of rubble, which was not worth the removing. Even the
blocks under the intervals of the three remaining columns, have been
taken away, and they stand now entirely detached from each other,
(except by some iron ties inserted for their preservation) from the
foundation to the architrave, twenty feet more than the proper height of
the column.
From the temple of Jupiter, let me take you to that of Peace, a building
of very different style in every respect. The remains consist of three
great arches of brick and rubble, nearly of equal size, and of some
foundations of piers, which exhibit themselves above ground. The plan,
which you may see in almost any book of Roman architecture, has been a
room, about 248 feet long, and 195 wide, composed of a nave, or central
part, which is vaulted with three groined arches, and which has on each
side three large recesses, rising about as high as the springing of the
principal arches, and occupying nearly their whole width. These groined
vaults have had the appearance of resting on eight Corinthian columns,
or rather on detached entablatures over such columns. It was probably
intended, by throwing the weight on such slender, and apparently
inefficient props, to give to the whole an exaggerated appearance of
lightness; the attempt seems injudicious; yet the same sort of
arrangement in the existing hall of the baths of Dioclesian is generally
admired. The Romans, this is my present theory, had a sort of
architecture borrowed from the Etruscans, before they had much
intercourse with Greece. The ornamental parts have presented arches, and
niches, and Tuscan columns, which were little more than the wooden props
from which the idea of a column has been derived. To this they
afterwards added the triglyphs, characteristic of the Doric order; and
thus made what is now called the _Roman_ Doric, but which till lately
used to be considered as the genuine order; and imported also the other
orders. From these materials, about the time of Augustus, they formed an
architecture of their own; combining with the severe, and as they
probably felt it, somewhat monotonous simplicity of the Greek forms, the
arches and niches of the Etruscan mode of building; and executing their
works on a large scale, and with a magnificence and fulness of ornament
peculiar to themselves. The power of vaulting their apartments, enabled
them to combine magnitude and solidity, both real and apparent; and they
no sooner felt the effect thus produced, than they began to abuse their
powers in sacrificing every thing else to this union. The great hall in
the baths of Caracalla, was perhaps, the first remarkably successful
effort of the sort; at least we know of nothing earlier, for it is not
clear that there was any thing of the kind in the baths of Titus. The
novelty was admired, extolled, and imitated; and this great room, called
the Temple of Peace, and the great hall in the baths of Dioclesian, were
built upon the same model. Palladio inserts a similar apartment in the
baths of Nero and Titus, as well as in those of later date; but we know
not his authority, and the progress would be the same though we should
assign an earlier date to the commencement of the practice. It is
impossible to deny the impressive effect produced by these ample spaces,
and bold construction, whatever was the edifice in which they were first
introduced, or not to regret, that it should have occasioned the entire
disregard of all chaster, and less ostentatious beauty, both in the
masses and in the details. Whatever was the motive of this disposition,
its effect in the Temple of Peace is now entirely lost, as the great
vault is gone. The stucco panelling of the side-vaults is in a fine free
style, but the details are bad, and the execution poor; a circumstance
which we have the opportunity of determining by a large mass of vault
lying on the ground, with a considerable portion of these ornaments
remaining. The backs of the two side recesses, each with two ranges of
comparatively small arches, never could have had a pleasing appearance
by any mode of finishing, and the circular recess is still worse in
design; but the latter was a posterior addition, made to convert the
edifice into a Christian church. Of the great order, the whole
entablature is clearly exhibited at one corner, being not continued from
one column to another, but returning in itself upon each. Considerable
fragments of a smaller order are lying about, presenting continued
straight lines, and not contemptible either in design, or workmanship,
although not very correct. A third order ornamented the circular recess,
and we have also several fragments of the entablature of this part,
overloaded with ornaments which are ill drawn, and ill executed. One end
wall of the nave seems to have been finished in a manner similar to
those of the ends of the two side recesses; the other has a large niche.
We may perhaps trace in this arrangement the first idea of the
distribution of the Roman churches. Recent excavations have proved that
the plan has hitherto been imperfectly understood. The original entrance
was at the end, and the building formed a great hall, terminating in a
large niche, and having three tribunes, square on the plan, on each
side, each of which terminated in two rows, each of three arched
recesses, some, or all of which, were windows. The middle tribune on one
side was opened at some period later than the conversion of Constantine,
and a flight of steps made up to it, while a semicircular extremity was
added to the opposite tribune; so that what had been the nave, or
leading division of the hall, became the transept of the church,
although larger than the part which thus had the effect of a nave, as is
the case at present in the church of the baths of Dioclesian. Many of
the paving bricks are marked with the name of Domitian, but this does
not amount to a proof of the date of the edifice, and the execution of
the parts shows decisively, that it is not, in its present state, of the
age of Vespasian, as has been supposed. It is possible that the mass of
the building might be of the time of that emperor, yet I doubt if the
introduction of these immense groined vaults can be placed so early.
There are indeed some very fine fragments, and in particular, a
beautiful piece of cornice with dentils, but without modillions, which
now lies in the adjoining church of Santa Francesca Romana. These were
plundered from other buildings; and the artists of that we are now
examining, have shown their degeneracy by their clumsy imitations. The
stucco work, which must have been made for the building, is still worse
than the marble. The circular recess on one side has long been
acknowledged to be an addition, but the present opinion does not assign
to the whole edifice an antiquity much higher than the reign of
Dioclesian, or perhaps of Constantine, but the apparent change of its
destination, from some profane purpose, probably into that of a
Christian church, make me suppose that it must have been, in its
original form, prior to the latter emperor.
From the temple of Peace we have but to cross the way to the Arch of
Titus. This is the oldest triumphal arch existing in Rome, and it has
perhaps been the most beautiful. It contained only a single opening, by
which means the side intercolumniations are rather smaller than where
there are also two smaller arches; and I think this improves the general
composition. You know that this building was erected in commemoration of
the defeat of the Jews, or rather of the destruction of the Jewish
nation by Titus; and part of its interest is derived from the sacred
utensils sculptured in its bas-reliefs.
At the distance of a few steps from the arch of Titus, we find two
temples, placed back to back, sometimes called the temples of the Sun
and Moon, but I am better satisfied to believe them the temples of Venus
and Rome, designed by Hadrian, and criticised by Apollodorus. The
criticism was too just to be forgiven, and it cost the unfortunate
artist his life. Ruins have more claim on our attention, when we know,
or fancy that we know, something of their history, and here the
probability is much in favour of their connexion with the story.
Palladio restored these temples with a portico, or rather loggia to
each, of six columns, and four pilasters, not the height of the
building. It seems more probable that each had a lofty decastyle portico
and pediment, as is usual in temples. Uggeri, who has given a plan on
this supposition, says that he has made them peripteral, instead of
amphiprostyle, but in fact, both his design and that of Palladio are
amphiprostyle. In order to effect this, he has crowded his columns too
much, and if there were ten of them, the building was in all probability
peripteral. It was inclosed in a peribolus, surrounded by a peristyle of
granite columns of considerable size, many fragments of which still
remain.
Underneath the wall of this building, we see a slab of white marble,
apparently the remains of a pavement of that material: this is thought
to have belonged to Nero’s golden house. Some other foundations have
been found by digging, which are attributed to the same source. We will
now pass to the Coliseum, without stopping to examine the shapeless
fragment of a fountain, or aqueduct, called the Meta sudans. What an
immense mass! You walk round it, and within it. You pace its long
corridors, or stand on the top of its half ruined vaults, and
everywhere, and in every part, and from every point of view, the same
impression occurs of enormous magnitude. You may visit it again and
again, and you will still feel this one character eternally repeated. To
the painter, in its present state of ruin, it offers many picturesque
combinations and admirable studies. The antiquary may delight in tracing
the various parts, and imagining their uses; but to the architect it
does not say much. As a whole it is a mere mass, with little merit of
design or execution. None of the orders are good, and the mouldings are
indifferently drawn and worse executed, as might be expected from the
manner in which it was raised. Yet on the whole, the details of the
architecture are better than I expected from the engravings. It is
curious, that although the arches are semicircular, and of small span,
the arch-stones are joggled;[43] this would seem to indicate no great
confidence in the form of the arch, and consequently not much habit of
using it, at that time. Travertine, brickwork, and rubble are intermixed
in the construction, and the ancient pavement in some of the passages so
exactly resembles Dutch clinkers, that I should have had no doubt of
their being such, had I met with them in England. This building has
suffered tremendously, as every one knows, by furnishing materials for
the Roman palaces. Lately, a part which threatened to fall, has been
supported by a vast brick wall of no inconsiderable expense.[44] During
the residence of the French it was cleared out both internally and
externally, and some curious construction, partly of blocks of
travertine, partly of brick, and small, rough masonry, was discovered in
the arena: the use and date of these have been much disputed. Some of
the slighter walls have been supposed to have been erected by the
Frangipani family, which had here established a dyeing-house; but they
are all now filled up, not however to the former level, for the present
arena is said to be eight feet lower than it was.
Almost close to the Coliseum, is the Arch of Constantine, shining like a
jay, says Milizia, in borrowed feathers. Much of the sculpture
represents the exploits of Trajan, and was doubtless taken from an arch
dedicated to that emperor, but it has been disputed whether Constantine
transferred them from the arch in the forum of Trajan, or whether he
altered and restored an arch upon the spot. The latter supposition is
inadmissible, since the bases of the pilasters are of Constantine’s
time, judging, as we may fairly do in this case, by the workmanship;
while those of the columns, which are so much more exposed to
destruction and to change, are antique; and of the sixteen internal
angles made by the cornice, points also very much protected by their
situation, not one is entirely of the more ancient execution. The parts
of architecture not made for this arch, are very beautiful, but rather
perhaps in a more delicate style than that of the fragments remaining of
the forum and basilica of Trajan. The general form and proportion of the
edifice are also good.