Roman decorative painting, generally known under the name of the
Pompeian style. (_Fig._ 310.) Even in the time of Augustus, Vitruvius
complains of a blind seeking after scenic effect, which, in disdain of
all constructive laws, and in a manner quite impossible, piled heavy
gables and upper stories upon reed-like columns of no supporting power.
His blame, however, seems unjustifiable. That architectural painting
which aims at illusion should be condemned as worthless; but this is not
the case with that which, after the analogy of conventional
landscape-painting, renounces all semblance of reality and assiduously
avoids all illusion. Spaces may be apparently extended by an
architectural painting which, not deceptively, but poetically, opens the
narrow walls of small rooms, and carries the eye dreamily through a wide
perspective. Hence the fresh and by no means realistic colors, which,
tapestry-like, are not intended to deceive, but to ornament and please.
They bear witness to the deep feeling for polychromy, inherited from
Hellenic, or at least Hellenistic, predecessors, which was
characteristic of the Romans even after their decline. What delight must
there have been in a work so extended, and yet free from all slavish
copying! Not only Amulius, who, by compulsion, painted the Golden House
of Nero, and was celebrated by Pliny for his valuable and finely colored
pictures, but countless other artists were everywhere busily employed in
covering the walls with paintings and ornaments--a work now intrusted to
common decorators. In the time of Nero the activity in ornamental
painting, judged by the discoveries among the ruined cities of Campania,
must have been greater than has ever been known at any other period.
[Illustration: Fig. 310.--Wall-painting of Decorative Architecture,
Pompeii.]
In the consideration of Hellenic painting, mention has been made of the
origin of floor-decorations in mosaic by Sosos at the royal court of
Pergamon. By this is only meant mosaic painting with illusory effects,
as practised by him; imitations of tapestry patterns and merely
ornamental mosaic-work must have been older. His drinking-doves in the
“unswept hall” appear to have continued a favorite subject, judging from
three well-known imitations; one of which, found upon the Aventine, now
in the Museum of the Lateran, bears the inscription of the artist
Heraclitos. Though the names of other workers in mosaic are known, they
as little deserve mention here as do the numerous vase-painters, their
mosaic being almost wholly a technical process; its very laboriousness
rendered a truly artistic activity almost impossible. Unfortunately, no
name is attached to the most important work of this kind, over four
meters long and two wide, apparently representing an Alexandrian
battle-scene. This is also the best-preserved historical painting of
antiquity, but it is related rather to the Grecian types than to the
Roman battle-pieces above mentioned. The greater part of the well-known
mosaics, being from Herculaneum and Pompeii, may be referred to the time
of Nero; but those of Præneste with the Egyptianized conventional
landscapes may date back to the time of Sulla, while the extensive
example with figures of athletes from the Baths of Caracalla--now in the
Lateran--belongs to the time of that emperor. Many others, however,
especially those discovered in the distant provinces, are of later
times. Vigorous as are some of the representations of landscapes and of
animals among them, it is not to be denied that, as Semper says, mosaic
oversteps its boundary in going beyond the patterns of woven tapestry,
and trying to make us forget that it is outstretched like a level floor
upon which we would walk without hindrance.
“It would be difficult, connectedly, to pursue the history of ancient
painting later than the eruption of Vesuvius, which, in the year 79
A.D., by a wonderful fortune, preserved for the later world the artistic
treasures of three cities of Campania--Herculaneum, Pompeii, and
Stabiæ--and, at the same time, cost the life of Pliny, whom we have to
thank for the greatest completeness of written description.” Thus Brunn
rightly concludes his “History of the Grecian Painters,” for the works
of succeeding generations, even when names of artists are attached, do
not deserve to be called art, being nothing more than hasty and crude
decorations; such, for example, are the servants’ rooms in the Vigna
Nussiner, upon the southern slope of the Palatine, which, in recent
times, have acquired some celebrity by the careless scratches of the
slaves found upon their walls. The most important illustrations that
have been preserved of the shallowness and roughness of this lingering
art are in the tombs; and with these in painting, with the basilica in
architecture, and the sarcophagi in sculpture, the boundaries of the
antique and of the Christian era flow into each other, and are scarcely
distinguishable. When Christianity arose from the sepulchre, it allied
itself in monumental art to that stage of debasement which painting had
reached in the heathen and the Christian catacombs of the fourth
century; indeed, art continued still to decline through ages, until the
Northern races and the life of the common people breathed into it the
spirit of a new life.
GLOSSARY.
It has been the translator’s endeavor to avoid technical terms wherever
this was possible without detracting from exactness of expression. Of
those which it has proved necessary to introduce into the present
History, it is intended in this glossary to define neither words in
common usage, like basilica, battlement, column, etc., nor those
designations of infrequent occurrence which should be interpreted
whenever employed, like the Greek and Latin names of the many divisions
of the ancient theatre, bath, and gymnasion. A few of the former--as,
for instance, the too often interchanged _channel_, _flute_, and
_reed_--have, however, been given for the sake of discrimination. In
these cases, and in the case of some other words which are often
employed in senses too widely extended to allow of their being used
without qualification in careful architectural descriptions, it has been
attempted to make some advance towards precision of usage.
=Ab´acus= (Gr. ἄβαξ-ακος. Lat. _abax_ and _abacus_, a slab. Possibly in
its architectural signification from βαστάζω, to lift up, to bear). The
plinth which forms the upper part of the capital--supporting the
entablature by bearing the lower surface of the epistyle beam. The
abacus is the crowning member of the capital, as the capital is of the
column. In the Doric style it is thick and of square plan, in the
Corinthian order thin and curved upon the sides.
=Acrote´rion=, pl. acroteria (Gr. from ἄκρος, outermost).
The ornaments, such as statues or anthemion shields, placed upon the
angles of the gable--whether of the outer corners or of the apex. The
term is also applied to the pedestals of these ornaments.
=Ag´onal=, adj. (from Gr. ἀγών, festive gathering,
especially an assembly met to see games; also the place of contest
itself). Pertaining to a festive destination. The word _agones_ is used
for the arena itself by Grote. (For the hypothetical distinction between
agonal temples and those consecrated alone to the worship of a deity,
introduced by Boetticher, see p. 214.)
=Ag´ora= (Gr. an assemblage of the people; hence, the place where such
meetings were commonly held). A public square or marketplace. Synonymous
with the more familiar Latin _forum_.
=Amphiprosty´los=, adj. amphip´rostyle (from Gr. ἀμφί, on
both sides; πρό, in front of; and στῦλος,
column). A term applied to a temple having a columned portico at the
rear (epinaos), as well as at the front (pronaos), but without lateral
columns.
=An´nulet= (Lat. _annulus_, or, according to the best manuscripts,
_anulus_, ring, terminated by Ital. diminutive). A small fillet
encircling the base of the Doric echinos. The number of annulets is
commonly three.
=An´ta=, pl. antæ (Lat.). Terminations similar to pilasters upon the ends
of the lateral walls of the cella, in pronaos and epinaos. Though a
corresponding member, the anta is in form but little allied to the
column, because its individual function is so different.
=An´tefix= (from Lat. _ante_, before, and _fixus_, fixed). An upright
ornament like a small shield, placed above the corona when the gutter is
omitted, to hide the end of the jointing tile ridge.
=Anthe´mion= (Gr. patterned with flowers, from ἀνθέω, to
blossom). The so-called palmetto or honeysuckle ornament, employed on
acroteria and antefixes, and also as a continuous decoration on bands,
gutters, etc., and the necking of some Ionic capitals.
=In an´tis= (Lat.). The simplest variety of temple plan, so called by
Vitruvius because the pronaos or portico is formed by the projection of
the side walls, terminated by antæ, between which stand columns.
=Apoph´yge= (Gr. escape; from ἀπό, from, and φεύγω, to flee. In its
technical employment, of the same significance as the Fr. _congé_ and
Ger. _Ablauf_). The hollow, or scotia, beneath the Doric echinos, the
juncture between shaft and capital, occurring in archaic examples of the
style, and relinquished with its advance.
=Ar´ris= (Lat. _arista_, beard of an ear of grain, bone of a fish. Old Fr.
_areste_). The sharp edge formed by two surfaces meeting at an exterior
angle. Particularly the ridge between the hollows of Doric channellings.
=As´tragal= (Gr. ἀστράγαλος, knuckle-bone, one of the
vertebræ of the neck, the bone of the ankle-joint). A roundlet moulding
carved into the form of beads; employed on the Ionic capital, and to
separate the projecting faces of the epistyle and coffering beams.
=Atlas=, pl. Atlan´tes (Gr. the fabled upholder of the heavens). Figures
of male human beings, generally of colossal size, carved either in the
full or half round, and employed in the place of columns or pilasters to
support an entablature.
=A´trium= (Lat.; from Gr. αἰθρία, open sky?). The chief
space of the Roman dwelling-house; an inner court usually surrounded by
columns.
=At´tica= (from Gr. ἀττικός, pertaining to Attica). The
upright portion of a building above the main cornice.
=Bar´biton= (Gr.). An ancient Greek musical instrument of many strings,
resembling a lyre.
=Caryat´id=, pl. caryat´ides (Gr. pl. priestesses of Artemis at Caryæ in
Laconia, the connection of which with the architectural support has not
as yet been satisfactorily explained). Figures of female human beings
employed in the place of columns to support an entablature.
=Cel´la= (Lat.; from _celare_, to hide). All that portion of the temple
structure within the walls. The term cella is comprehensive, including
pronaos, naos, and, if such there be, opisthodomos and epinaos.
=Cham´fer= (Fr. _chamfrein_, Old Engl. _chanfer_). A slope or small splay
formed by cutting off the edges of an angle.
=Chan´nel= (a modification of canal, from Lat. _canna_, reed). A curved
furrow, immediately adjoining its repetition, and separated from it only
by an arris, as in the Doric column.
=Chorag´ic= (Gr. χοραγικός or χορηγικός, from χορός, chorus, and ἄγω, to
lead). Pertaining to, or in honor of, a choregos, _i. e._ one who
superintended a musical or theatrical entertainment among the Greeks,
and provided a chorus at his own expense.
=Chryselephan´tine= (Gr. χρυσελεφάντινος, from
χρυσός, gold, and ἔλεφας, ivory). A
kind of sculpture in gold and ivory overlaying a wooden kernel--the
drapery and ornaments being of the former, the exposed flesh of the
latter, material.
=Clere´-story= (Fr. _clair-étage_, _claire-voie_, from _clair_, light).
That portion of a central aisle which is so raised above the surrounding
parts of the building as to permit the illumination of the interior
through windows in its side walls.
=Coilanaglyph´ic= (from Gr. κοίλος, hollow, and γλυφή, carving). That
species of carving in relief in which no part of the figure represented
projects beyond the surrounding plane, the relief being effected by
deeply incising the outlines.
=Cor´nice= (Gr. κορωνίς, Lat. coronis, terminating curved
line; flourish with the pen at the end of a book). The uppermost
division of the entablature--the representative of the roof--consisting
of projecting mouldings and blocks, usually divisible into bed-moulding,
corona, and gutter. Hence, in general usage, any moulded projection
which crowns and terminates the part upon which it is employed.
=Coro´na= (Lat. crown). The chief member of the cornice, directly beneath
the gutter, by its great projection and rectilinear faces forming the
drip.
=Crepido´ma= (Gr. from κρηπίς-ιδος, boot). The entire
foundation of the temple, including the stereobate, the stylobate, and
the remaining steps.
=Cy´ma= (Gr. wave). A moulding composed of two distinct curves. The Doric
cyma is commonly called the beak-moulding, the Lesbian cyma the _cyma
reversa_.
=Den´til= (Lat. _denticulus_, from _dens_, _dentis_, tooth). Small
rectangular blocks in the bed-moulding of a cornice, originally
representing the ends of the slats which formed the ceiling.
=Diad´ochi= (Gr. successors, from διαδέχομαι, to
receive from another), a term applied to the successors of Alexander.
=Diminution.= In architectural usage, the continued contraction of the
diameter of the shaft as it ascends.
=Dip´teros=, adj. dip´teral (from Gr. δίς, double, and
πτερόν, wing). That variety of a temple plan which has
two ranges of columns entirely surrounding the cella.
=Dro´mos= (Gr. course). A road; particularly applied to the
entrance-passages to subterranean treasure-houses.
=Echi´nos=, pl. echi´ni (Gr. hedgehog, so called from the resemblance of
the member to the shell of the sea-urchin). The curved and projecting
moulding which supports the abacus in the Doric capital.
=Egg-and-dart moulding.= Term applied to the well-known carving of the
roundel common in the Ionic style.
=Empais´tic= (Gr. ἐμπαιστική; from ἐν, in,
and παίω, to stamp). Stamped and embossed work of metal;
also sheets of metal applied or inlaid.
=Entab´lature= (Lat. _intabulamentum_; from _tabula_, board, table). In
the Greek styles the whole of the structure above the columns, excepting
the gable. The entablature consists of three members: the epistyle, or
architrave, joining the columns and taking the place of the wall; the
frieze, standing before, and in the Doric style imitating, the ceiling
and its beams; and the terminal cornice, the representative of the ends
of the roof rafters.
=En´tasis= (Gr.; from ἐντείνω, to bend a bow). The
swelling of the column towards its middle, the object of which is to
counteract an optical delusion causing the diminished shaft, when formed
with absolutely straight lines, to appear hollowed in the centre.
=Epina´os= (formed by analogy with pronaos; from Gr. ἐπί,
after, behind, and ναός, naos). The open vestibule behind
the naos.
=Ep´istyle= (Gr. ἐπιστύλιον; from ἐπί,
after, upon, and στῦλος, column). The lower member of
the entablature, the representative of the wall, consisting, as the name
imports, of beams laid horizontally upon the capitals of the columns.
The epistyle is commonly spoken of by its Roman name, architrave.
=Fascine´= (Lat. _fascina_; from _fascis_, bundle). A bundle of long, thin
sticks employed in military engineering for filling ditches, raising
parapets, etc.
=Fil´let= (Fr. _filet_, thread; from Lat. _filum_). A ribbon; a narrow,
flat band used in the separation of one moulding from another.
Especially the ridge between the flutes of the Ionic shaft.
=Flute.= In architectural usage, a curved and usually semicircular furrow,
separated from its repetition by a narrow fillet, as in the Ionic
column. So called from its similarity to the musical instrument.
=Frieze= (Ital. _freggio_, adorned?). The second member of the
entablature. When enriched by carvings of men or animals in relief, as
is common in the Ionic style, and as occurs upon the cella wall of the
Doric Parthenon, the frieze is in classic architecture called
_zophoros_.
=Gar´goyle= (Fr. _gargouille_; from _gargouiller_, to dabble, to paddle).
A carved waterspout projecting from the gutter.
=Gymna´sion= (Gr.; from γυμνός, naked). Originally an open
space, but in later times extensive courts and buildings, devoted to
mental as well as bodily instruction and exercises.
=He´lix=, pl. hel´ices (Gr. anything twisted or spiral; from ἑλίσσω, to
turn around). A spiral, particularly the volutes of the Ionic capital
and the corner leaves and tendrils of the Corinthian.
=Hexasty´los=, adj. hex´astyle (from Gr. ἕξ, six, and στῦλος, column). A
building, particularly a temple, upon the front of which are six
columns.
=Hip´podrome= (Gr. ἱππόδρομος; from ἵππος, horse, and δρόμος, way). A
course prepared for the races of horses and chariots.
=Hypæ´thron=, adj. hypæ´thral (Lat. _hypæthrus_; from Gr. ὑπό, under,
and αἰθήρ, clear sky). Term applied to a temple supposed by some writers
on Greek architecture to have been lighted from above, by an orifice
through roof and ceiling.
=Hyper´oön= (Gr.). The upper stories of a house; particularly the
galleries above the side-aisles in the interior of the Greek temple.
=Hyp´ostyle= (Gr. ὑπόστυλον; from ὑπό,
under, and στῦλος, column). A space, with or without
lateral enclosure, the ceiling of which rests upon columns.
=Inci´sion.= In architectural usage, the deep groove which separates the
necking of the column from the upper drum of the shaft beneath. At times
repeated to emphasize this separation.
=Intercolumnia´tion= (from Lat. _inter_, between, and _columna_, column).
The open space between two columns, measured at the base. The measures
are often taken from centre to centre of the columns.
=Lacu´na=, pl. _lacunæ_ (Lat.; from Gr. λάκος, pit,
originally anything hollow). A sunken panel in the under surface of any
constructive feature, particularly of a horizontal ceiling.
=Log´gia= (Ital.; from Lat. _locus_, place). A covered space enclosed by
walls, but with one or, in exceptional instances, two sides entirely
open to the air.
=Lychni´tes= (Gr. λυχνίτης λίθος; from λύχνος, light). A variety of
fine-grained marble from the island of Paros, probably so called because
quarried by torchlight.
=Met´ope= (Gr.; from μετά, between, and ὀπή,
opening). Originally the orifice between the beam-ends of the Doric
ceiling; hence, in later times, the stones which were employed to close
these openings. The nearly square slabs between the triglyphs.
=Monop´teros= (from Gr. μόνος, alone, single, and πτερόν, wing). A
circular structure of outstanding columns, commonly without a cella
enclosed by walls.
=Mu´tule= (Lat. _mutulus_). A projection upon the soffit of the Doric
corona, which originally marked the position of the rafter-ends beneath
the sheathing.
=Na´os= (Gr.). The innermost chamber of the Greek temple.
=Neck´ing.= In architectural usage, the space, if such be separated,
between the top of the shaft and the projecting members of the capital.
In the Doric style, for instance, the continuation of the channellings
above the incision or incisions to the annulets of the echinos,
including the hypophyge, when this occurs.
=Octosty´los=, adj. oc´tostyle (from Gr. ὀκτώ, eight, and
στῦλος, column). A building, particularly a temple, upon
the front of which are eight columns.
=Odei´on= (Gr.; from ᾠδή, song). A hall, similar to a modern
theatre, devoted to the production of the lyric works of poets and
musicians.
=Ogive´= (Fr.). The pointed arch.
=Opisthod´omos= (Gr. from ὄπισθε, behind, and δόμος, house). An enclosed
chamber in a temple, entered from the epinaos, commonly employed to
contain the treasure of the temple or of the state.
=Palais´tra= (Gr.; from παλαιστής, wrestler). A
building or enclosure devoted to wrestling, boxing, and kindred
gymnastic exercises; commonly, also, containing baths.
=Perip´teros=, adj. perip´teral (Gr.; from περί, around, and
πτερόν, wing). A temple entirely surrounded by columns.
=Per´istyle=, noun and adj. (from Gr. περί, around, and
στῦλος, column). A term applied to a secular building,
or a court, which is entirely or for the greater part surrounded by a
colonnade.
=Pisé= (Fr.; from _piser_, to build with stamped clay). A species of
tenacious clayey earth, employed for walls and pavement by being rammed
down.
=Plinth= (Lat. _plinthus_, from Gr. πλίνθος, tile). Any
rectangular and projecting member of considerable size. A narrow and
long plinth is a fillet.
=Po´ros= (Gr.). A light, coarse tufa-limestone almost exclusively employed
during the earliest ages of Greek architecture.
=Prona´os= (Gr.; from πρό, before, and ναός).
The open vestibule before the naos.
=Propylæ´on=, pl. propylæ´a (Gr.; from πρό, before, and
πύλη, gate). The portal structure before the entrance to a
Greek temenos.
=Prosty´los=, adj. pro´style (from Gr. πρό, before, and
στῦλος, column). That variety of temple plan in which
the projecting wall and pilasters of the temple in antis have been
transformed to corner columns, thus altering the pronaos from a loggia
to an open portico.
=Pseudodip´teros= (pseudo from Gr. ψευδής, false;
dipteros, see above). A temple planned upon the dipteral arrangement, in
which the inner rank of columns surrounding the cella is wanting.
=Pseudoperip´teros= (pseudo from Gr. ψευδής, false;
peripteros, see above). A temple in which the columns surrounding the
cella are engaged upon a continuous enclosure wall, as in the great
temple of Acragas (Agrigentum).
=Ptero´ma= (Gr.; from πτερόν, wing). The passage
surrounding the cella of a peripteral temple.
=Py´lon= (Gr.; from πύλη, gate). The towers of truncated
pyramidal form on either side of the gateways of Egyptian temples.
=Quirk.= In architectural usage, a moulding formed by a sharp turn in a
continuous line.
=Reed.= In architectural usage, a small convex moulding applied to a
regular surface and frequently repeated. The term is commonly employed
for the ornamentation of columns by reversed channels or flutes.
=Reg´ula= (Lat. any straight piece of wood, a ruler). The short band,
corresponding to the triglyph, beneath the tænia moulding which crowns
the epistyle; the listel. Originally determined by the slat of wood
which strengthened the wall-plate at the point of its perforation by the
trunnels.
=Revet´ment=, vb. to revete (Fr. _revêtement_, from _revêtir_, to clothe).
A facing of metal, stone, or wood encasing a kernel--usually of some
less firm or sightly material.
=Round´el=, dim. roundlet. A moulding of semicircular profile.
=Scamil´lus= (Lat. little bench, foot-stool). A slight projection, cut by
means of a joggle, upon a constructive feature in such a manner as to
prevent its adjacent edges from touching and possibly chipping those of
the next block. A scamillus thus creates the incision between the upper
drum of the shaft and the necking of the Doric capital, and is also
occasionally inserted between the top of the abacus and the soffit of
the epistyle.
=Sco´tia= (Gr. darkness). A hollow curved moulding, so called from the
deep line of shadow which it casts.
=Soc´le= (Lat. _socculus_, dim. of _soccus_, low shoe, slipper). The low,
plain foundation of a pedestal or building.
=Sof´fit= (Ital. _soffitta_; from Lat. _suffigere_, to fasten beneath).
The under side of any part of a building, particularly of lintels,
epistyles, and coronas.
=Sphyrel´aton= (Gr.; from σφῦρα, hammer, and ἐλαύνω], to drive).
Metal-work beaten to the shape of a carved kernel by a hammer.
=Spi´na= (Lat.; from Gr. σπινός, lean, thin). The barrier
dividing the race-course longitudinally into two tracks.
=Sta´dion= (Gr.; from στάδιος, standing firm). A
race-course of fixed dimensions, whence a measure of length, 600 Greek
feet.
=Ste´le= (Gr.). An upright stone employed as a monument.
=Ste´reobate= (Gr. στερεοβάτης; from στερεός, firm, solid, and βάσις,
base). The substructure of rough masonry beneath a temple.
=Sto´a= (Gr.). An extended colonnade, usually adjoining a public place,
and affording protection against the heat of the sun.
=Sty´lobate= (Gr. στυλοβάτης; from στῦλος, column, and βαστάζω, to light
up, support). The uppermost step of the peripteros, which forms a
continuous base beneath the columns.
=Tæ´nia= (Gr. ribbon). The continuous fillet which crowns the epistyle,
representative of the wall-plate of the original timbered Doric
construction.
=Ta´lus= (Lat. ankle). The slope or angle of inclination of the sides of a
wall.