9-I8 PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE.

Book III.
The Parthenon or Temple
of
Minerva at Athens is admitted to have tlie most
beautiful
proportions of all octastyle Greek examples
;
its entire width, measured in the front of
the
of)lumns at the base, is 100 feet 9 inches, and its height to the centre of the tympanum, from
the level of the platform on which tlie columns are placed, 51 feet
'21
inches, 20 inche.s onlv
beyond what it should be to accord with the rules laid down. Dividing this height
into
three parts, we have in round numbers 17 feet 1 inch for each : the height of the
entablature and half pediment is 1 7 feet, and that of the columns 3-J feet 2 inches, precisely
one-third of the heiglit being devoted to the entablature, the lower two-thirds being divided
between these and their intercolumniations ; adding all the diameters together, we have
49 feet 6 inches
;
the intercolumniations being 51 feet 3 inches, or only 1 foot 9 inches iii
excess for the latter: hence if a parallelogram or double square be divided into
40^ squares,
and
13^
be given to the columns, the same quantities to the intercolumniations, the en-
tablature and its pediment, we should have the general proportions of the Parthenon, the
difference before alluded to being too slight to produce any effect on the eye in so large a mass.
The height to the centre of the pediment is 51 feet 2.1 inches, consequently the width to make
It an exact double square should have been 102 feet 5 inclies, instead of 100 feet 9 inches:
and this difference may have been occasioned by the difficulty of setting out the triglyphs
or from the idea that the width, as measured along the corona, should have some con-
sideration, and a mean be established.
As we have before observed that the Parthenon is considered perfect both in its design
and execution,
a more detailed account of its construction and mouldings will be the best
illustration that can be offered on the sulyect of Greek masonry, premising that in the pre-
sent instance it is all of the finest marble from Pentelicus.
The Doric Column varies considerably in its proportions, some not being more than four
diameters in height, whilst in other examples they are from that to six and a half: those
we are now considering are formed of twelve l)locks; on the upper and lower bed of each
are described two circles, the circumference of the outer being 9 inches from the edge,
whilst the inner circle is only 20 inches in diameter. The space between these is not
polished, but left rough as from the chisel, and a little sunk for the purpose of retaining
UOKIC CAl'lTALS, SELINUNTUM.
a fine mortar or cement. In the centre of each block is a square hole, measuring
5\
inche.i
on each side, sunk 3 inches in depth
;
in these were inserted pieces of hard wood, 6 inches
in length, to steady the blocks, and keep them from being displaced, particularly at the
time the flutes were worked, or the exterior was undergoing the process of polishing.
The outer columns are 6 feet
3-^ inches in diameter at bottom, and the others 6 feet
Ifj
inch, the upper diameter of tiie latter being 4 feet
9^
inches : their total height is
.'54
feet
2^5
inches, or nearly five diameters and a half; the diminution is not regular, there
being at a certain height a swelling or entasis, which improves the outline, and destroys
that meagreness which is the result of a straight line. The angular column is a little more
in diameter, that it may not appear less than the others, which are not so surrounded
by air.
The shafts have generally twenty flutes, uniting in an arris, and not with a square fillet
between them, as in the other orders ; they are elliptical in some examples, as at Paestuni,
where their number is 16 and 24; the heads are variously finished. The capital of this
order varies in its height from
^
to
|
of the lower diameter of the columns, and the