DOR

291

DOR

The shaft was almost universally fluted, veryflutes . P tlo na to the contrary existing ; the number of thetftent of e ' U l ler 16 or 20, and their profile is that of a seg-g a circle less than a semi-circle, being much broaderThese fl 6r or Slower than those of the succeeding orders.iiit erv „ u . tes meet each other in a sharp arris, without the^ °f fillets, which are universal in the later orders;

Sermjy et > however, is to be found in examples at Eleusis ,itisij, n;j I Tl ’ Rhamnus and Thoricus, but so narrow as to be

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Much pains have been taken by variousaccount for the introduction and use of thosein our opinion without success; one supposes

be es o ^ &re Ruinations of the crevices in the stems of thefile st which the timber-huts, the primitive models ofHs 0 e structures, were constructed; another, that the idea°f tli e asion cd by the rain-streaks running down the shafts[ 0t the C ° Utnns ’ an( l a third, that flutings were hollowed outfij'pothp h Ur p°se of resting spears in the crevices. SuchBn es ar e doubtless very ingenious, although not to all

^*6 8 >.J Ua % convincing ; for our own part, we do not see

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e necessity there is to account for the reason andevery small member or ornamental detail. We

ect

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’further reason for the use of flutes, beyond theS We tv UCed b 7 tliein as a means of decoration, and asa'fici'itv t llnb their origin very easily accounted for. In the.'e Egyptian examples, from which—to prejudge

—' v e suppose those of Greece to have beenkcti n „ ’, e columns were reeded, or ornamented with pro-jSodg 8 aves instead of recessed flutes ; nor are the twor.., 0 decoration so dissimilar and unconnected, for we

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es tf, “ remove the staves to produce the flutes : andWk at . ese methods we find another, in which the columnsis called canted, that is to say, have their horizontal... tl\ e " re ctilineal polygons, the faces of the polygon or sidesR'Us w e | urnn being flat, instead of convex or concave.Jfieli 8e lave three kinds of polygonal columns, the first of■ be tVl _ t 11 ® to possess the primitive form, and the others

Ubt e 'f> eni 'iched

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variations of the same. At Amada

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ere is a very curious illustration of the progress

file s ,' ne improvement and enrichment of columns, wherePiu^ll '| uil . din ° we find one column a mere pier orf v. e l°P'Pcd, and another and adjoining one bothcorners and fluted; this last bears arese mblance to the Grecian Doric , on whichof t |^. R'all have to refer to the subject again ere thehe f* S ar ticle. Specimens of Doric canted columns' a th 0 ° and i n the portico of Philip, king of Macedon,CVt . temp,e of Cora : ‘ -

dJ 11 ; th e as , tlle 7 are tbe -—-

Hi 'fiy t 0 Pi' ea sing effect produced by them is attributable% * 8 a °t t/ 6 - diversit y °i light *md shade so created, butta ligl ltn le * r only advantage ; they likewise give a variety

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the flutes, however, are the mostmost beautiful means of enrich-

Xij,, °1 appearance to the column, which wouldthe br 6a j , lleav >> and at the same time, by the diminu-

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an n Uleadt h of the channels as viewed by the eye, addV%s ,. etU circularity of the column. We have noreeded columns in this order. The flutesas they reach

b "t in l c euea columns m this order. The flutes' V ’ dt h as they reach the top of the shaft, to*\ e the ' V * tb the diminution of the shaft; they are carriedcapital, and usually terminateVdi Ctl f a e l°w the annulets, butting upon a plane surface't ti, 0t| i a s - r to the axis of the columns, or parallel to thete, ln “■ " - ' - - *

itnp] the Propylasa at Athens . In other cases, as, p 0 ® s . 0 f Theseus and of Minerva at Athens , as well

dJ. tl le g lco of Philip, in the island of Delos, the upperUli *My Res terminate upon the super»eies of a cone,a der the annulets, in a tangent to the bottom

of the curve of the echinus of the capital. The samekind of termination takes place in the temple of Apollo, atCora, in Italy ; but in this example, the conic terminationof the flutes is not immediately under the abacus, but at asmall distance down the shaft, leaving a small portion quitea plain cylinder, and thus forming the hypotrachelium orneck of the capital. Palladio and other Italian authors haveterminated the flutes of the shafts of their designs of Doric columns in the segments of spheres tanged by the surfacesof the fluting. In some few instances the shaft is fluted onlyat the upper and lower extremities, the other part being leftplain, although probably with the intention of being orna-mented in a similar manner at some future time. Examplesof this are to be found at Eleusis and Thoricus in Attica,at Egesta and Selinus in Sicily , at the temple of Apollo atDelos and at Rhamnus, which last forms a peculiar instance,the columns of the pronaos being fluted the whole length ofthe shaft in front; with eleven channels, having at the backnine plane surfaces. We have above stated the number ofchannels to be 16 or 20, but the latter is by far the moreusual; examples of which practice are, the Parthenon ,Theseum and Propylsea at Athens , with others at Corinth,Delos, Eleusis, Rhamnus, Thoricus, Bassas, Agrigentum , andin the temple of Ceres, at Paestum . There are but fewexamples with only 16 channels, of which number are thoseat Sunium, and the upper range of the interior columns inthe temple of Neptune at Psestum, in which last mentionedbuilding there are specimens of columns with as many as24 flutes. The channels were not always circular, butsometimes semi-ellipses, and at others eccentric curves.Doric ant eg were never fluted.

The first object which attracts notice in passing the eye upthe column, and which* breaks the outline of the fluting, iswhat is termed the hypotrachelium, or under-necking of thecapital. This consists of one or more channels cut in reces-sion round the upper part of the shaft ; in some instances, asat the temple of Minerva at Sunium, in the Agora at Athens ,and in most of the examples at Agrigentum ; this division isso fine as almost to escape notice, and in others is very pro-minent, the channels varying both in size and number. Inthe Parthenon, and in the Propylaea at Eleusis , and atRhamnus, there is a single rectangular groove ; at the Pro-pyltea at Athens , a groove chamfered on the upper edge,and at the Theseum, a groove chamfered on both edges, soas to form an acute angle at the meeting of the chamfers.At Corinth there are three channels similar to those in thePropylsea at Athens , having a fillet between each two, asalso at the temple of Apollo at Bassae , but in this examplethe channels are of a curvilinear section. At Psestum thereare three fine channels, which, at their junction with thearrises of the flutes, are cut into the shape of diamonds, theprojecting edge of the arris being chamfered off. The hypo-trachelium of three channels is considered a mark of antiquity,for although they are not of necessity found in all ancientexamples, yet they are never inserted in those of later date.Some writers consider those channels as the commencementof the capital, while others are inclined to think them but acontinuation of the shaft. In the other orders the correspond-ing member is certainly the division between the two parts,all above being given to the capital, and all below to theshaft; the difficulty in this case arising from the fact of thecontinuation of the flutes above this point, the space betweenthe hypotrachelium and annulets being precisely similar tothe lower portion of the shaft, yet at the same time it is diffi-cult to assign any other reason for the introduction of thtegrooves, except they serve to mark the division betweenthe two members of the column. Without the intervention

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