_Of the_ Dorick _Order._
[Sidenote: _Lib._ 4. _Chap._ 1.]
The _Dorick_ Pillar has had in divers times, and in different Buildings,
different Proportions; for at first it had only for its height 6 times
its Diameter; this Proportion imitating that of Humane Bodies, in which
the length of the Foot is the 6th part of all the Body, afterwards they
allowed 7 times its Diameter.
[Sidenote: _Lib._ 5. _Chap._ 9.]
But this Proportion that the Pillars of the Temples had at the
Beginning, was afterwards changed in that of the Theaters, where they
were higher by half a Diameter; for they made them 15 Modules high, for
in the _Dorick Order_ the Semi-Diameter of the Pillar at the bottom is
the Module, which in other Orders is a whole Diameter.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 4. Chap. 1._]
The _Dorick_ Pillar is composed as well as the rest of a _Shaft_, _Base_
and _Capital_, though _Vitruvius_ makes no mention of the _Base_; and
it's easie to conclude, that in the Ancient Buildings this _Order_ had
none; for it is said, That when they would make the _Ionick Order_ more
Beautiful than the _Dorick_, they added a _Base_ to it; and there is yet
to be seen in Ancient Buildings of this Order, Pillars without a _Base_;
but when a _Base_ is added to it, it must be _Attick Base_, whose
Proportion is as follows.
The whole _Base_ ought to have a _Module_ for its height; that is to
say, half the Diameter of the Pillar; this _Module_ being divided into
three parts; one is for the _Plinthus_; the other two parts are divided
into four, of which one is allowed for the upper _Torus_, the three
which remain, are divided into two: The half below is for the lower
_Torus_, the other is for the _Scotiae_, comprising the two little
Squares or Filets. The breadth of the _Basis_ in General is a 4th of the
Diameter of the Pillar at the bottom, added on every side; but this
jetting is excessive, and without any Example, and _Vitruvius_ himself
makes it lesser in the _Ionick Base_.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 4. Chap. 3._]
The height of the _Capital_ as well as the _Base_ is one _Module_, the
breadth is two _Modules_ and an half, the height of the _Capital_ being
divided into three parts, one must be allowed for the _Plinthus_ or
_Abacus_, with its _Cymatium_; the other is for the _Echine_, with its
_Anulets_; the third appertains to the _Gorge_ of the _Capital_.
_The Architrave_ which comprehends its _Platte-Band_ with the _Gouttes_
or _Pendant Drops_, which are under the _Triglyphs_, is as well as the
_Capital_ of one only _Module_; the _Gouttes_ or _Drops_ with their
little _Tringle_, ought to have the 6th part of a _Module_, the breadth
under the _Architrave_ ought to be equal to that above the Pillar.
Upon the _Architrave_ in the _Friese_ ought to be the _Triglyphs_ and
the _Metops_. The _Triglyphs_ have a _Module_ and a half for their
height, and a _Module_ for their breadth; the _Metops_ are as high as
broad; One _Triglyph_ must be placed directly upon every Pillar, and
the Intercolumniation ought to have three; towards the Corners must be
placed the _Demi-Metops_.
The breadth of the _Triglyph_ being divided into six parts, five of them
must be left in the middle, and the two halfs which remain on the right
and the left, must be for _Demi-Graveurs_; The part in the middle, and
the two last of the five, must be for the three Feet, and the two which
are betwixt the three Feet, must be for the _Graveurs_ or _Channels_,
which must be hollowed, following the Corner of the _Mason_'s Rule. The
_Capital_ of the _Triglyph_ ought to have the 6th. part of a _Module_.
Upon the _Capital_ of the _Triglyph_ is placed the great _Cornice_, its
Jetting or Projecture, is half a _Module_ and the 6th. part of a
_Module_, its height is half a _Module_, comprising the _Dorick
Cymatium_, which is under it.
On the _Plat Fonds_ of the _Cornice_, must be hollowed little strait
ways, which must answer perpendicularly to the sides of the
_Triglyphs_, and the middle of the _Metops_.
Streight upon the _Triglyphs_ must be cut 9 _Goutes_ or _Drops_, which
must be so distributed, that there may be six length-wise, and three
broad-wise; in the Spaces which are betwixt the _Metops_, because they
are greater than those between the _Triglyphs_: nothing must be cut
unless it be _Foudres_. Moreover towards the border of the Crown must be
Carved a _Scotia_.
Some advance perpendicularly above the _Triglyphs_, the Ends of the
_Forces_ or _Principals_ to frame the _Mutils_ which support the
_Cornices_; so that as the Disposition of _Beams_ hath caused the
Invention of _Triglyphs_, so the jetting of the _Forces_ hath caused the
Disposition of the _Mutils_, which support the _Cornices_. See Tab. VI.