_In what the Beauty of Building Consists._
_Buildings_ may have two sorts of Beauty, the one _Positive_, and the
other _Arbitrary_. _Positive Beauty_, is that which necessarily pleaseth
of her self; _Arbitrary_, is that which doth not necessarily please of
her self, but her agreeableness depends upon the Circumstances that
accompany her.
_Positive Beauty_, consists in Three principal Things; _viz._ In the
Equality of the Relation that the Parts have one to another, which is
called _Symmetry_, in the Richness of the Materials, in the Properness,
Neatness, and Exactness of the Performance.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 2. Chap. 8._]
[Sidenote: _Lib. 1. Chap. 2._]
[Sidenote: _Lib. 6. Chap. 11._]
As to what regards the Relation of the Parts of the Fabrick one to
another, _Vitruvius_ hath not spoke of it, but only where he prefers the
_Netway_ of Walling before all other sorts of _Masonry_, because of the
Uniformity that is in that Figure, and the laying of the Stones; As to
the Richness of the Materials, he leaves the Disposition to him that is
at the Expences of the Building; and he acknowledges that the Beauty of
the Performance depends wholly upon the Dexterousness and Industry of
the Workmen.
The second sort of _Beauty_, which only pleases by the Circumstances
that accompany it, is of two sorts; The one is called _Wisdom_, and the
other _Regularity_. _Wisdom_ consists in the reasonable use of _Positive
Beauties_, which result from the use and convenient ranking of the
Parts; for the Perfection of which, to a rich and precious Material, is
given an Equal and Uniform Figure, with all the Property and Correctness
possible.
_Vitruvius_ gives us two Examples of this sort of _Beauty_; The first
is, When _Bosses_ or _Relievo's_ are made to hide the Joynts, putting
them directly under the _Bosses_ which hide them by their jetting or
projecture, for this gives them great Beauty and an agreeable Aspect.
The second is, When we consider the Winter-Appartments, that we have a
care, that upon the Ceiling there be little or no Carving, and that the
Ornaments be not made of Stuck, because it hath a shining whiteness,
which will not endure the least nastiness; for it is impossible to
hinder the smoak of the Fire and Candles which are lighted in the
Winter, from tarnishing the beautiful Colour of the Work to which the
Filth will stick, and enter into the Crevises of the Carving, which
cannot be wiped out.
The _Regularity_ depends upon the Observation of the Laws which are
Established for the Proportions of all the Parts of _Architecture_, the
Observation of these Laws extreamly pleases those that understand
_Architecture_, who love these Proportions for two Reasons.
The First is, That they are for the most part founded upon Reason; which
requires, for example, that the parts that support and are under, be
stronger than those above; as we see in _Pedestalls_, which are broader
than the Pillars they support, and they are broader at the bottom than
the top.
The other Motive is _Prevention_, which is one of the most usual
Foundations of the _Beauty_ of all things, for even as we love the
Fashion of the Cloaths which the Courtiers wear, although this mode have
no _Positive Beauty_, but only for the Positive Merit of the Persons
that wear them; so we are accustomed to love the Proportions of the
Members of _Architecture_, rather because of the great Opinion that we
have of them that Invented them, than for any _Positive Beauty_ which
is found in the Works of the Ancients, where these Proportions are
observ'd; for often these Proportions are against Reason; as we may see
in the _Thorus_ of the _Ionick Base_, in the _Faces_ of _Architraves_
and _Chambranles_, or _Door-Cases_, with their _Mouldings_, where the
Strong is supported by the Weak, and many other things, which Custom
only hath made supportable.
These Proportions appertain to Three principal Members, which are
_Pillars_, _Piedements_, _Chambranles_; the _Pillars_ taken Generically,
and as opposite to _Piedements_, and _Chambranles_ or _Door-Cases_, have
Three parts, _viz._ The _Pedestal_, the _Pillar_, and the _Ornaments_.
Every one of these Parts is likewise divided into Three other Parts, for
the _Pedestal_ is composed of the _Basis_, its _Die_ and its _Cornish_;
the _Pillar_ Comprehends its _Base_, _Shaft_ and _Capital_. The
_Ornaments_ consist in the _Architrave_, _Frise_, and _Corniche_.
The _Piedement_ or _Fronton_, has likewise Three Parts, _viz._ The
_Tympan_, the _Corniches_, and the _Acroteres_. The _Chambranle_ or
_Door-Case_ is composed of two _Pieds-droits_, or _Piers_, and the
_Lintel_ which also supports a _Frise_, which has likewise its
_Cornich_.
The Disposition, Form, and different Proportions of all the Parts make
two things, to which all that is Beautiful in Building hath a Relation,
which is _Gender_ and _Order_.
_Gender_ depends of the Proportion, which is between the thickness of
the _Pillars_ and the space betwixt them.
_Order_, doth likewise depend in part upon the Proportion which is
between the thickness of the _Pillars_, and their height; but we must
likewise joyn to this Proportion many other things that appertain to the
principal Parts of the _Pillars_, and other Parts which accompany it,
such as are the _Gates_, the _Chambranles_, or _Door-Cases_; and other
things which are different in different _Orders_.