MON
208
MOO
column was fitted with great exactness, and effectually con-cealed the junctures of the panels. These columns projectedsomewhat more than half their diameters from the surface ofthe cylindrical wall, and the wall entirely closed up theintercolumniation. Over this was placed the entablature,and the cupola, in neither of which any aperture was made,so that there was no admission to the inside of this monu-ment, and it was quite dark. It is, besides, only 5 feetllijf inches in the clear, and, therefore, was never intendedfor a habitation, or even a repository of any kind.
An entrance, however, has been since forced into it, bybreaking through one of the panels ; probably in expectationof finding treasures here. For in these countries such bar-barism reigns at present, every ancient building which isbeautiful, or great, beyond the conception of the presentinhabitants, is always supposed by them to be the work ofmagic, and the repository of hidden treasures. At presentthree of the marble panels are destroyed ; their places aresupplied by a door, and two brick walls, and it is convertedinto a closet.
It should be observed, that two tripods with handles tothem, are wrought in basso-relievo on each of the three panelswhich still remain. They are perhaps of the species whichHomer and Hesiod describe by the name of rpiTroBte wrwevree,or eared tripods.
The architrave and frieze of this circular colonnade areboth formed of only one block of marble. On the architraveis cut the following inscription :
AY2IK.PATH2 AY2I0EIAOY K1KYNEY2 EXOPIirHI
AKAMANTIS IIAIAQN EN1KA 0E1IN HYAEI
AY2IAAH2 A0HNAIO2 EAIAA2KE EYAINET02 HPXE
From this we may conclude, that on some solemn festivalwhich was celebrated with games and plays, Lysicrates ofKikyna, a demos or borough-town of the tribe of Akamantis,did on behalf of his tribe, but at his own expense, exhibit amusical or theatrical entertainment; in which the boys ofthe tribe of Akamantis obtained the victory; that in memoryof their victory, this monument was erected; and the name ofthe person at whose expense the entertainment was exhibited,of the tribe that gained the prize, of the musician who accom-panied-the performers, and of the composer of the piece, areall recorded on it; to these the name of the annual archonis likewise added, in whose year of magistracy all this wastransacted. From which last circumstance it appears, thatthis building was erected above 330 years before the Chris-tian ®ra; in the time of Demosthenes, Apelles, Lysippus ,and Alexander the Great .
Round the frieze is represented the story of Bacchus andthe Tyrrhenian pirates. The figure of Bacchus himself, thefauns and satyrs who attend him on the manifestation of hisdivinity, the chastisement of the pirates, their terror, andtheir transformation into dolphins, are expressed in thisbasso-relievo with the greatest spirit and elegance. Thecornice, which is otherwise very simple, is crowned witha sort of Vitruvian scroll, instead of a cymatium. It isremarkable, that no cornice of an ancient building, actuallyexisting, and decorated in this manner, has hitherto beenpublished ; yet temples, crowned with this ornament, arefrequently represented on medals ; and there is an examplemuch resembling it, among those ancient paintings whichadorn a celebrated manuscript of Virgil, preserved in theVatican library. This cornice is composed of severalpieces of marble, bound together by the cupola, which is ofone entire piece.
The outside of the cupola is wrought with much delicacy ;it imitates a thatch, or covering, of laurel leaves; edged
with a Vitruvian scroll, and enriched with other ornamIn certain cavities on its upper surface, some ornament)lost, probably a tripod, was originally placed. 5 , 11(1
It was the form of the upper surface of the fi°' ver ’- t jaSprincipally, indeed, the disposition of four remarkable c» ^in it, which first led to this discovery. Three oi tl* e j. (Ce ;
cut on the three principal projections of the upper
their disposition is that of the angles of an equilateral 11
IraltrianS
* >-/ * . Tjj I
in these the feet of the tripod were probably fixed. cell tr efourth cavity, which is much the largest, and is i” l *' e ^.^iiof this upper surface, a baluster was in all likelihood * n °its use was to support the tripod. . ^ tl * 6
It is well known, that the games and plays "'h>‘ t j, e irancient Grecians exhibited at the celebration 0 ] iell u* cgreater festivals, were chiefly athletic exercises,or musical performances ; and that these made a ve l jnsiderable, essential, and splendid part of the solemn* /•.order, therefore, to engage a greater number of comp®and to excite their emulation more effectually, p rallotted to the victors ; and these prizes were g®exhibited to public view during the time in whiogames were celebrated. Jet>° te i
Monument, The, absolutely so called among '* s > e ,. e cl e “a magnificent pillar, designed by Sir C. Wren, and e . (peby order of parliament, in memory of the burning fir ecity of London , anno 1666, near the place whet® jg'ubegan. This pillar, begun in 1671 and finished 111 0 pii^'is of the Doric order, fluted, 202 feet high from the g ^.jtljand 15 feet in diameter, of solid Portland st ? n . e ’ (ra staircase in the middle, of black marble, contai** 11 '®^!*steps. The lowest part of the pedestal is 28 f e ® j tfi^and its altitude 40 feet ; the front being enrich® ^ 0curious basso-relievos. It has a balcony within 3* # iithe top, and the whole is surmounted with a cut*
spacious blazing urn of gilt brass.
ABC-
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MOORISH, Moresque, Arabian , or Sarace>' iC te J bftectuke. —The style of building indifferently desig 1 ® ^any one of the above titles, is that which was P ract ’ S ^ 0 nd> t ‘ l, |jArabs , or Moors, and which, owing to the migratoi 1 nre'^rfof that race, and to their widely-spread influence,in many parts of the eastern continent. It 13 s gad 1styled Mohammedan, for under the auspices °^. j j.chiefly flourished; and amongst the edifices whichgave rise to, are to be found some of the most ** ® t oand characteristic examples of the style. Prevm u * ut lit*
time of Mohammed the Arabs seem to have possesse .^s ^
knowledge of the arts, and to have made little p* d*»<tthe art of building until the commencement of ** # gt^.
dynasty. They would appear to have acquire'portion of their knowledge of the arts from * 1 |, 0 il'.j
nations they subdued, during the reign of On 1111 ’ ,,e, s >
a d. 644. It was this prince who founded .• te [iir [*called after his name, on the site of the ancieh j^uie*^Jerusalem , and which, by the additions and ei» cof succeeding kaliphs, has been reared into a l'U'g ‘ Qni *’ 1 4nificent pile. With the commencement of . 11 tl‘ e ^[,3
dynasty, was introduced a taste for the cultivate * 1 v ed *
arts, and after the first kaliph of that house hail l*®^
seat of empire from Medina to Damascus , the-" of ^
to assume the refined manners and the magntnc ^ f°™ e f
more polished Asiatic empires. During this an “ s , L {lll d
^ t l^ffy?
did public buildings, amongst which the g 1 ‘ j ;founded by Ahvalid I. is particularly celeb*® # ppe a< ^J,prince was the first to introduce the minaret, a ” 0 ^ L)®®. j,g.which, although an innovation at the time, has jjea marked characteristic of Mohammedan build* 11 ® ‘