COL
179
COL
r-
Sent a K SentS to re P a ' r *t s losses. The inhabitants of Rhodesthei r , ass «dors to all the states of Grecian origin, to solicit°l'tain U 'T Stanee l" or repairing and re-erecting their statue, andThe r, a . sum raore tl lan fi ye times equal to the damage.
'p CI P a l contributors were the kings of Macedon, Syria ,the m ’ i ontus ) and Bithynia . But, instead of appropriatingp ri to the purpose for which it was given, the Rhodian
an<J P r etended that the oracle of Delphi had . forbidden it;^eref 6 m ° ne y was converted to other uses. The Colossus,
tli e la y neglected on the ground for 894 years, when
*Tewi s h acens > becoming masters of the island, sold it to aWith th nierc l' ant > who broke it up, and loaded 900 camels800 [)„ 6 aieta l: the weight of the brass, therefore, allowingby ry for each load, after the diminution it had sustainedWeight’ an< ^ l )10 ' Ja bly by theft, amounted to 720,000 poundsTi * *
attract f ? normoua figure was not the only colossal statue thatlOo ot i a n °tice in the city of Rhodes, for Pliny reckons nearevery g . ers ' From the Rhodian Apollo, it is supposed, thatbeen 0 ..i|' tae exceeding in magnitude the size of a man, hasGOLttiu colossal statue.
°f timh MB ARIA, the holes left in walls for the insertion’Wris Co ^ 8 ?l so the recesses in ancient tombs, in which the
fttlia ncXtrta /if + li/i ilnnnnonil lirrttio /Inn/\cito/4
r Sll Ppor* A ^L<atin, columna , derived irom columen , a post,° r PortL t6r l ’ n a general sense, a vertical support of a body,The ng ° f a building.
*b(;i r of columns is of very early date, as we hear ofMlace of botb * n tbe Temple of Solomon, and in the
,a nr 1 L ‘y sses > they do not seem to have been employed^Pplied erections of Babylon, where their place was
la the an ^ P lers > but are to be found in universal application? 0 lnrnn £ lent structures of Egypt, India, and Persia . The
b,
'’’blingg 8 tf° '^Portant a feature in the construction of^ben ktinu, at its value must have been early known, and
~ vuiuc must nave uccu jviiuwii, ami
* 0 n ; i^.must soon have formed a subject for ornamen-a ver ° r '”' n Is to be found doubtless in the simple pier,.° rt n an<] ^ P’ 0od specimen of its progress in improvement ofa Rubia 111 a Ppl>cation of ornament, is to be seen at Am ad a,f a simn] lere ’ amongst other columns or piers in the form>, bm ® P ai 'allelopipe,d, with base and capital of a similar
th,
'°se
U H
Out
at th‘,
Ptojecting a little beyond the surface of the shaft,? corn ers of the building are both cylindrical andn j, ln ® however a square abacus or capital, and square
K -<l,i ea ® corners of the building are both cylindrical andS.*ii ‘ ng however a squ . -
yJl'aptivg g]*" to the others. The former is undoubtedly thelet her y la P e > the latter, previously of the same form,C,!;: c >e r i convenience or otherwise, has been rounded offllts ’ both - S ’ an< ^ somewhat ornamented. Such improve-ai- riv e ;( ' n Poem and decoration, gradually progress, until
«olu
Pil).
tOtis the well-proportioned and tastefully-enriched°f th * n class ’ c orders, or the still more beautiful
tho n ttS5 *c oru,
° th j. c ^.tyics.
• « uvwi u»uu I'lm imnipvj **
1 ar <>...1 ? s °P the lotus, but is of less elegant form than
fo Th e Cq j
: ^ and (I,', 1 '" 18 ?P Egypt exhibit a great variety both inW it ^tcd bell°- at ' on : th e capital in the shape of a vase oraitnj) leavlJ 3 „ USUf dly decorated with foliage, frequently
dia^'afi but' 1 ^ 0 ^ G '' e ec e and Rome; the shaft is generally
varies in
a j' i 8 '’ niet bnes square or polygonal, and"'cliifahing heights, the thickness, in some cases,
Men ,er > the 1
towards the
of" -
"Pt'u^'are B1 .
(Sign>f.'. l b'cquent| 1) °-' PG 11 1h. The columns were of stone,
| '"*1 MO IUU capital and base; this last
^tti,
g j Present is of the simplest kind, consisting1 0 or nlintli- The. onlnmns were of
^Uli,
•tu-i
rn as y °f a single block, and, at other times, of
rit y,
ss es placed one upon the otherhowever,” says Mr. Hamilton, “
other. “ There is a: in the columns
of the portico of Aslimounein not found, we believe, elsewherein Egypt . Instead of being formed of large masses placedone above another, they consist of irregular pieces fittedtogether with such nicety, that it is difficult to detect thelines of junction ; and this illusion is aided also by the formof the columns. The bottom is like the lowest leaves of thelotus, after which we see a number of concentric rings, bind-ing the column just like the hoops of a cask; and again abovethem the column is worked in such a way by vertical cuttings,to present the appearance of a bundle of rods held togetherby hoops; the whole has the appearance of a barrel; thecolumns are about 40 feet high, including the capitals. Theirgreatest circumference is about 28£ feet, at the height of
5 feet from the ground, for the column diminishes in thick-ness both towards the base and capital. These columns werepainted yellow, red, and blue. Similar pillars are found inthe temple of Gournon.”
Reeded columns, which bear the appearance of a bundle ofreeds bound together at intervals and set on end, are notuncommon, and are often surmounted with a bulging capi-tal, which is of similar formation to the shaft, with a cinctureat its lowest part, and square flat abacus on the top, bearingthe entablature; the swell or bulging would appear to becaused by the pressure of the entablature. Square columnsare to be found in the excavations at Thebes , and triangularones are spoken of by Pococke; at Ypsambool are squarecolumns or piers with caryatid figures in front of them.
The forms of columns found in India vary considerably.In the subterraneous temples, which are excavated out ofthe solid rock, they are generally of a massive character, andin proportions stunted ; they are rather grand than graceful.The bases are frequently cubical, and of great height in pro-portion to the shaft, sometimes equal to it; they are at othertimes octangular: the shafts are circular, or multangular,and sometimes consist of both forms one above the other,surmounted by low, compressed capitals. Columns of abalustral form are to be seen at the Temple of Elephanta;they are about 9 feet high, supported on cubical bases about
6 feet in height; the capitals, of a semicircular profile,exhibit the appearance of compressed cushions, and with theshafts, are ribbed or reeded: the whole is surmounted byan abacus of the form'* of an inverted truncated pyramid.Some very curious columns are to be seen in a cave at Ellora ,which consist of elephants bearing castles, and surmounted atthe top by a capital or abacus.
In the pagodas, or constructed temples of the Indians, thecolumns are of an entirely different appearance, they are byno means so stunted, and are often of quite an opposite cha-racter, slender; such are those in that part of the pagoda ofChidambaram called the Nerta Chaboei ; they are, in allcases, profusely enriched with sculpture. The capitals ofthe columns are frequently made more effective to the sup-port of the entablature by extending them out in the shapeof brackets, so as to leave but a small portion of the entabla-ture unsupported. Sometimes a succession of brackets pro-ject from the adjacent columns one above another, and meetin the centre, so as to leave no portion unsupported.
Of Persian columns we have but few examples remaining,but from these we may conclude that they were of slenderproportions, the height of some of the existing specimensbeing as much as 70 feet, while their diameter is but 5| feet.Some of the shafts are fluted with fillets intervening, and areraised upon a base 4 or 5 feet in height, finished with sculp-tured mouldings. We have specimens of two kinds ofcapitals, the one consisting of small scrolls, somewhat similarto the volutes of the Ionic capital, placed in rows one abovethe other on the sides at the top of the shaft; the others