Alberti, Leone Battista
,
Architecture
,
1755
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<
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>CHAP. II.</
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Of how large and what Kind of Stone the Walls ought to be built, and who
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were the firſt that erected Temples.
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<
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>The Ancients, and particularly the
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He
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trurians,
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built their Walls of ſquare
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Stones, and the Largeſt that could be got.
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<
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>The
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Athenians,
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as we are informed by
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Themiſ
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tocles,
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did the ſame in their
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Pireum.
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<
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> There
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are ſome very ancient Caſtles ſtill to be ſeen in
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Tuſcany,
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and in the Territory of
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Spoleto,
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and
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near
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Piperno
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in
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Campania,
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built of huge un
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wrought Stone; which Sort of Work pleaſes
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me extremely, becauſe it gives the Building a
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rugged Air of the antique Severity, which is a
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very great Ornament to a Town. </
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<
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>I would
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have the Walls of a City built in ſuch a Man
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ner, that the Enemy at the bare Sight of them
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may be ſtruck with Terror, and be ſent away
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with a Diſtruſt of his own Forces. </
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<
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>There is
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a good deal of Majeſty too in very broad deep
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Ditches cloſe to the Foot of the Wall, with
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very ſteep Sides, like thoſe which we are told
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were at
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Babylon,
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which were fifty royal Cubits
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broad and above an hundred deep. </
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<
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>There is
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alſo much Majeſty in the Height and Thick
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neſs of the Walls themſelves, ſuch as we are
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told were built by
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Ninus, Semiramis
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and
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Ti
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granes,
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and moſt of thoſe whoſe Minds were
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inclined to Magnificence. </
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<
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>In the Towers and
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Corridors of the Walls of
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Rome,
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I have ſeen
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Pavements of
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Moſaic
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Work, and Walls incruſ
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tated with the handſomeſt Materials; but all
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Ornaments are not ſuitable to all Cities alike.
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<
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>Delicate Cornices and Incruſtations are not ſo
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proper for the Walls of a Town; but inſtead of
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a Cornice let there be a projecting Row of long
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Stones, ſomewhat more regularly wrought than
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the Reſt, and ſet by the Level and Plum-line;
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and inſtead of Incruſtations, tho' I would have
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the Front preſerve its rugged and threatning
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Aſpect, yet I would have the Stones ſo well fit
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ted to one another, that there may be no
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Cracks in the Building. </
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<
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>The beſt Way to fit
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ſuch Stones together is by Means of the
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Doric
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Rule; like which
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Ariſtotle
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uſed to ſay, the
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Laws ought to be made; for it was of Lead
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and pliable; becauſe having very hard Stones
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and difficult to be wrought, for the ſaving of
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Expence and Labour, they did not take the
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Pains to ſquare them, but ſet them in the Wall
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without any certain Order and where-ever they
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would fit in; and finding it an endleſs Task
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to remove them from Place to Place till they
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could fit them in exactly, they invented this
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Rule which would bend any Way, which they
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moulded to the Sides and Corners of the Stone
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which they had already ſet, and to which they
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were to fit the next, and made uſe of the Rule
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thus moulded for chuſing out ſuch Stones as
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would fit the Vacancies they were to fill up,
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and anſwer beſt to the Stones which they had
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already ſet in the Wall. </
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<
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>Moreover, for a ſtill
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greater Addition of Reverence and Dignity, I
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would have a very handſome open Space left
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both within and without the Walls, and dedi
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cated to the publick Liberty; which ſhould
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not be cumbered up by any Perſon whatſoever,
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either with Trench, Wall, Hedge, or Shrub,
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under very great Penalties. </
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<
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>Let us now pro
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ceed to the Temple. </
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<
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>The firſt Builders of
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Temples I find to have been in
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Italy,
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Father
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Janus,
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and for that Reaſon the Ancients, in
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their Sacrifices, uſed always to begin with a
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Prayer to
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Janus.
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<
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> Some were of Opinion that
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Jupiter
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in
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Crete
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was the firſt that built Tem
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ples, and upon that Account thought him the
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firſt God to be adored. </
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<
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>They ſay that in
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Phe
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nicia, Uſo
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was the firſt that erected Altars, and
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built Temples to Fire and Wind. </
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<
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>Others tell
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us that
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Dionyſius,
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another Name for
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Bacchus,
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in his Paſſage through
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India,
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finding no Cities
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in all that Region, after he had built Towns
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there, alſo erected Temples and eſtabliſhed re
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ligious Rites. </
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<
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>Others ſay that in
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Achaia, Ce
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crops
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was the firſt that built a Temple to the
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Goddeſs
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Ops,
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and the
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Arcadians
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the firſt that
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built one to
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Jupiter.
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<
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> Some write that
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Iſis,
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who was alſo called the Law-giver, becauſe ſhe
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was the firſt Deity that commanded Men to
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live according to her Laws, was alſo the firſt
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that raiſed a Temple to
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Jupiter
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and
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Juno
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her
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Progenitors, and appointed Prieſts to attend their
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Worſhip. </
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<
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>But what Manner of Temples any
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of theſe were, is not ſo well known. </
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<
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>I am
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very much inclined to believe they were like
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that which was in the Citadel of
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Athens,
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or
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that in the Capitol at
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Rome;
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which, even when </
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