Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

List of thumbnails

< >
161
161
162
162
163
163
164
164
165
165
166
166
167
167
168
168
169
169
170
170
< >
page |< < of 320 > >|
1
CHAP. II.
Of how large and what Kind of Stone the Walls ought to be built, and who
were the firſt that erected Temples.
The Ancients, and particularly the He­
trurians, built their Walls of ſquare
Stones, and the Largeſt that could be got.
The Athenians, as we are informed by Themiſ­
tocles, did the ſame in their Pireum. There
are ſome very ancient Caſtles ſtill to be ſeen in
Tuſcany, and in the Territory of Spoleto, and
near Piperno in Campania, built of huge un­
wrought Stone; which Sort of Work pleaſes
me extremely, becauſe it gives the Building a
rugged Air of the antique Severity, which is a
very great Ornament to a Town.
I would
have the Walls of a City built in ſuch a Man­
ner, that the Enemy at the bare Sight of them
may be ſtruck with Terror, and be ſent away
with a Diſtruſt of his own Forces.
There is
a good deal of Majeſty too in very broad deep
Ditches cloſe to the Foot of the Wall, with
very ſteep Sides, like thoſe which we are told
were at Babylon, which were fifty royal Cubits
broad and above an hundred deep.
There is
alſo much Majeſty in the Height and Thick­
neſs of the Walls themſelves, ſuch as we are
told were built by Ninus, Semiramis and Ti­
granes, and moſt of thoſe whoſe Minds were
inclined to Magnificence.
In the Towers and
Corridors of the Walls of Rome, I have ſeen
Pavements of Moſaic Work, and Walls incruſ­
tated with the handſomeſt Materials; but all
Ornaments are not ſuitable to all Cities alike.
Delicate Cornices and Incruſtations are not ſo
proper for the Walls of a Town; but inſtead of
a Cornice let there be a projecting Row of long
Stones, ſomewhat more regularly wrought than
the Reſt, and ſet by the Level and Plum-line;
and inſtead of Incruſtations, tho' I would have
the Front preſerve its rugged and threatning
Aſpect, yet I would have the Stones ſo well fit­
ted to one another, that there may be no
Cracks in the Building.
The beſt Way to fit
ſuch Stones together is by Means of the Doric
Rule; like which Ariſtotle uſed to ſay, the
Laws ought to be made; for it was of Lead
and pliable; becauſe having very hard Stones
and difficult to be wrought, for the ſaving of
Expence and Labour, they did not take the
Pains to ſquare them, but ſet them in the Wall
without any certain Order and where-ever they
would fit in; and finding it an endleſs Task
to remove them from Place to Place till they
could fit them in exactly, they invented this
Rule which would bend any Way, which they
moulded to the Sides and Corners of the Stone
which they had already ſet, and to which they
were to fit the next, and made uſe of the Rule
thus moulded for chuſing out ſuch Stones as
would fit the Vacancies they were to fill up,
and anſwer beſt to the Stones which they had
already ſet in the Wall.
Moreover, for a ſtill
greater Addition of Reverence and Dignity, I
would have a very handſome open Space left
both within and without the Walls, and dedi­
cated to the publick Liberty; which ſhould
not be cumbered up by any Perſon whatſoever,
either with Trench, Wall, Hedge, or Shrub,
under very great Penalties.
Let us now pro­
ceed to the Temple.
The firſt Builders of
Temples I find to have been in Italy, Father
Janus, and for that Reaſon the Ancients, in
their Sacrifices, uſed always to begin with a
Prayer to Janus. Some were of Opinion that
Jupiter in Crete was the firſt that built Tem­
ples, and upon that Account thought him the
firſt God to be adored.
They ſay that in Phe­
nicia, Uſo was the firſt that erected Altars, and
built Temples to Fire and Wind.
Others tell
us that Dionyſius, another Name for Bacchus,
in his Paſſage through India, finding no Cities
in all that Region, after he had built Towns
there, alſo erected Temples and eſtabliſhed re­
ligious Rites.
Others ſay that in Achaia, Ce­
crops was the firſt that built a Temple to the
Goddeſs Ops, and the Arcadians the firſt that
built one to Jupiter. Some write that Iſis,
who was alſo called the Law-giver, becauſe ſhe
was the firſt Deity that commanded Men to
live according to her Laws, was alſo the firſt
that raiſed a Temple to Jupiter and Juno her
Progenitors, and appointed Prieſts to attend their
Worſhip.
But what Manner of Temples any
of theſe were, is not ſo well known.
I am
very much inclined to believe they were like
that which was in the Citadel of Athens, or
that in the Capitol at Rome; which, even when

Text layer

  • Dictionary
  • Places

Text normalization

  • Original

Search


  • Exact
  • All forms
  • Fulltext index
  • Morphological index