Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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1may ſuffice for thoſe Colonades which are to
be
covered with Architraves; of thoſe which are
to
ſupport Arches we ſhall ſpeak by and by,
when
we come to treat of the Baſilique.
There
are
only ſome few Particulars more relating to
Colonades
of this Sort, which ought by no
Means
to be omitted.
It is certain that a Co­
lumn
which ſtands in the open Air, always
ſeems
ſmaller than one that is under Cover, and
the
more Flutings there are in its Shaft, the
Thicker
it will appear.
For this Reaſon we
are
adviſed either to make thoſe fluted Co­
lumns
that ſtand in the open Air ſomewhat
thicker
, or elſe to encreaſe the Number of the

Channels
.
Theſe Channels are made either
direct
along the Shaft, or elſe run ſpiral about
it
.
The Dorians made them direct along the
Shaft
.
Theſe Channels are called by Archi­
tects
Striæ, and among the Dorians they were
in
Number Twenty.
Others made Twenty­
four
.
Others ſeparated theſe Channels by ſmall
Liſts
, which were never more than a third, nor
leſs
than a fourth Part of the Groove of the
Fluting
, and theſe Flutings were a ſemi-circu­
lar
Concave.
In the Doric Order the Flut­
ings
are plain without any Liſt, with very little
hollow
, or at moſt but the Quarter of a Circle,
terminating
the Channels in an Angle.
For
the
lower third Part of the Shaft of the Co­
lumn
, they generally filled their Flutings with
a
Cable, to make the Column ſtronger, and
leſs
liable to Injuries.
Thoſe Flutings which
run
direct along the Shaft, make the Column
appear
to the Eye of the Beholder thicker than
it
really is.
Thoſe Channels that run ſpiral
about
the Shaft, vary it too; but the leſs they
ſwerve
from the Perpendicular of the Column,
the
Thicker the Column will appear.
They
muſt
round clear round the Column never
more
than three Times, nor ever make leſs than
one
compleat Revolution.
Whatever Flutings
you
make, they muſt always run from the Bot­
tom
to the Top of the Shaft in even and con­
tinued
Lines, with an equal Hollow all the
Way
.
The Sides of the Builder's Square will
ſerve
us as a Guide for making our Channels.
There is a mathematical Line, which being
drawn
from any certain Point of the Circum­
ference
of a Semi-circle to the End of its Dia­
meter
is called a right Angle, which is the ſame
as
the Builder's Square.
Having then marked
out
the Sides of your Flutings, ſink them ſo
deep
in the Middle, that the Angle of your
Square
may touch the Bottom and its two Sides
of
the Lips of them at the ſame Time.
At
each
End of the Shaft of a fluted Column, you
muſt
leave a proper Diſtance plain between the
Channels
and the Cincture at one End, and
the
Aſtragal at the other.
We are told, that
all
round the Temple of Memphis, inſtead of
Columns
, they made uſe of Coloſſal Statues
eighteen
Foot high.
In other Places they had
wreathed
Columns twiſted round with Ten­
drils
and Vine-leaves carved in Relief, and
with
the Figures of little Birds here and there
interſperſed
.
But the plain Column is much
more
agreeable to the Majeſty of a Temple.
There are certain Dimentions which are great
Helps
to the Workmen in the placing of their
Columns
, and theſe are taken from the Num­
ber
of the Columns themſelves that are to be

uſed
in the Structure.
Thus, for Inſtance, to
begin
with the Dorians; when they had four
Columns
for the Front of their Building, they
divided
the Front of the Platform into ſeven­
and-twenty
Parts.
If they had ſix Columns,
they
divided it into one-and-forty, and if eight
into
ſix-and-fifty, and of theſe Parts they al­
lowed
two for the Thickneſs of each Column.

But
in Ionic Structures where four Columns are
to
be uſed, the Front of the Platform muſt be
divided
into eleven Parts and a half; where
theſe
are to be ſix, into eighteen, and where
eight
, into four-and-twenty and a half; whereof
only
one Part muſt be given to the Thickneſs
of
each Column.
*
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