COL

177

COL

a ^Ll (from the Italian ) truss-posts, or the posts of

atta^^P^^ADE, (from the Italian colonna,') a range ofTh e int ° r ’ nsu lated columns, supporting an entablature.diain e t e ^ 1 Va ^ between the columns, measured by the inferiortile the column, is called the intercolumniation. and

c °luni n 6 J* rea between every two columns is called an inter-hal^ ''hen the intercolumniation is one diameter and a^nietero Callet * V'jcnostyle, or columns thick set; when twotliree ) s V s tyle; when two and a quarter, eustyle; when8 et. q ® sf yle ; and w lien four, arceostyle, or columns thinhalf a j. l ' mns are sometimes set two and two together, having'^‘t'eter 1 '? 6 * 61 ^ or t ' le sma ber interval, and three and a halfA col 0n , the larger; this disposition is termed areeosystyle.Hicij acle is also named according to the number of columnsar e f 0llr PP°rt the entablature, or fastigium ; as, when there' v hen Ulnns > it is called tetrastyle; when six, hexastyle ;^htniniatt*’ octas tyle ; and when ten , decastyle. The inter-

°f trigj '? ns °f the Doric order are regulated by the number'"'liea tli • Piling one over every intermediate column ;tr iglyp h , Fe 18 one triglyph over the interval, it is called mono-0,i ’ a ccorH' W ^ en t * lere are two, it is called ditriglyph; and so**. ln S to the progressive order of the Grecian nume-f 0lls tantl v e ' nterc olumniation of the Grecian Doric is almostr °tn ae roonotriglyph, for there are only two deviations{ 1<i ni c ° > j° be met with at Athens; the one in the Dorictk d ' e Acr ^ t ! le °ther in the portico forming the entrance1<! t ni(J ( ]|°i l ?'' s ’ or citadel ; but these intervals only belong toa . n, l be Carn 6 ln tercolumniations, which are both ditriglyphs,>' e pria c : 6 ’ leces sary on account of their being opposite to°ri c j 3 jP 1 entrances. As the character of the Grecian5 ftionotr'j 1 '? Inass t ve an d dignified than that of the Roman,a c otiv en - ° ^P' 1 succeeds best ; but in the Roman it is not( j. 0|J l(l nt > for the passage through the intercolumnsJ^'Slyph ■°° narr ow, particularly in small buildings ; the*s on] 18 therefore more generally adopted. The araso-Vk Fe th e - PP^ed to rustic structures of the Tuscan order,‘be s ‘uf Column l are lintelled over with architraves.^coratpj 1 ^ .P arts °f the masonry of a range of arcadesb r COtne wid ' v ‘ td the orders, the intercolumns necessarily^dth 0 f an d the intercolumniation is regulated by the, *ldj nwg le . arc ades and of the piers.

° st yle ; a colonnade projecting at one end are termed

Pr 0j

a tid

\ st, jle ; a colonnade at both and opposite ends, ampin-

■J i/'C • at UUbll auu V/ppUOHC CUUC)

T a ^ ^ le same on all sides of the building, peristyle ;

col 1 <i ° es not 16 range of columns > polystyle.

t ' nn ~ er appear that coupled, grouped, or clustered

w * ». - - 1 - — — x- j o-*- —? - - -- ----

r a »y ocoo v ev ailed in the works of the ancients; though,itnl. , casionq ti--- ,_,_,.. c , ’

°n u -

' Ve >na e ‘r^^'ons, they would have been much more useful:, 'dint, fi . nd > m the Temple of Bacchus, at Rome , columns‘ n the tl: t U Wer e in pairs ; but as each pair is only placedC kness of the wall, and not in the front, they maySly u? ai<1 to be two rows of columns, one almost imme-'■? T fct ^ lla d the other. In the baths of Diocletian, and inNa by !-° f Pea ce, at Rome , we find groined ceilings sus-,ngU Corinthian columns; but such a support isd " m aiatf e Mld inadequate. Vignola uses the same inter-

Ptei

»i

tin

la ail his orders. This practice, though con-d upon a good principle, for itvit a q ratio between the columns and the inter-

est „ e hinds of intercolumniation, the eustyle wasera arelk*'^ ret l ue st among the ancients; and though,

-.p? 04 '-. ar

th e ?ed v th e C p'' tectu ( e , both the eustyle and diastyle areif r °oih 0,<it .We , rtner is still preferred in most cases: as toP°rt to > and th e nterva i> it is frequently rejected for wantcntahfj* 031 '^ 6 ^ or want giving sufficient sup-

The moderns seldom employ more than one row of columns,either in external or internal colonnades, for the back rangedestroys the perspective regularity of the front range; thevisual rays coming from both ranges produce nothing butindistinct vision to the spectator. This confusion, in a cer-tain degree, also attends pilasters behind a row of insulatedcolumns; but in this the relief is stronger, owing to therotundity of the column and the flat surfaces of the pilasters.When buildings are executed on a small scale, as is frequentlythe case in temples, and other designs, used for the ornamentsof gardens, it will be found necessary to make the inter-columniations, or at least the central one, broader than usual,in proportion to the diameter of the columns; for when thecolumns are placed nearer each other than three feet, thespace becomes too narrow to admit more than one personconveniently.

COLISEUM, or Colosseum, the amphitheatre at Rome ,built by the emperors Vespasian and Titus. See Amphi-theatre .

Colosseum . Although it scarcely falls within our pro-vince to describe places of amusement considered merelyas such, the structure known under the name at the head ofthis article, deserves, from its peculiar form, and the extremetaste displayed in its interior decorations, something morethan a passing notice. The Colosseum , designed by Mr. Deci-mus Burton, is, in external form, a polygon of sixteen sides,of which the diameter is 130 feet. In the attic, all the faces ofthe polygon are shown ; but below, three of them are occupiedby the portico, a Doric hexastyle of about 70 feet in width.This order is here exhibited upon a much larger scale thanhad previously been done in any building in the metropolis,with the advantage of an effect not attainable with fewercolumns, and with the still greater advantage of its characternot being impaired by the introduction of features irrecon-cilable with any aim at a strictly Grecian style, there beingno other within the portico than a single lofty doorway. “ Inits general form,” observes Mr. W. H. Leeds, whose criticismsare always entitled to attention, “ this edifice must be referredto a Roman rather than a Grecian prototype, namely, thePantheon , which circumstance it probably was that led onewriter, who has attempted to describe the building, into aludicrous blunder, for he has not scrupled to assure hisreaders, that its portico is copied from that of the Pantheon at Rome , “ which, in the harmony of its proportions, and theexquisite beauty of its columns, surpasses every temple onthe earth !” Had he said that it was copied from Canova’schurch at Possagno, he would have been some degrees nearerthe mark, at least as far as resemblance in regard to the orderadopted, and the application of a Grecian style to the plan ofthe Roman Pantheon .

Mr. Hosking, in his “ Treatise on Architecture,” objects tothe combination of the square and circle in the plan; observ-ing, “ Irregular and intricate forms in works of architecture,whether internally or externally, will be found unpleasing.Few can admire the external effect of the Pantheon , or ofthe structure in London called the Colosseum , which hasbeen subjected to the same arrangement, though certain fea-tures in both may be good.” Yet, with due deference to theopinion of such an authority, we should be inclined to demurto it, even had we not Canova’s own example to oppose to it.In itself irregularity is a fault; but then the question is,whether the slight degree of it thus produced can be fairlytermed so; besides which, by pushing the doctrine a littlefurther, we may contend that a parallelogram is an irregularsquare, consequently faulty, and the flank and front of aGrecian temple do not exhibit that uniformity which theymight and ought to be made to do. But we need not resort