Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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              <s>
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              any Thing of a Plinth between theſe two Pe­
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              deſtals, the Height of that Plinth muſt be a
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              third Part of the Height of the Pedeſtal itſelf;
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              and this Interſpace muſt be filled up with the Fi­
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              gures of chearful Deities, ſuch as Victory, Glory,
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              Fame, Plenty, and the like. </s>
              <s>Some covered the
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              upper Pedeſtal with Plates of Braſs, gilt. </s>
              <s>The
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              Pedeſtals and the Baſe being compleated, the
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              next Work is to erect the Column upon them,
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              and its Height is uſually ſeven Times its Dia­
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              meter. </s>
              <s>If the Column be very high, let its up­
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              per Diameter be no more than one tenth Part
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              leſs than its lower; but in ſmaller Columns,
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              obſerve the Rules given in the laſt Book. </s>
              <s>Some
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              have erected Columns an hundred Foot high,
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              and enriched all the Body of the Shaft with
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              Figures and Stories in Relieve, leaving a Hol­
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              low within for a winding Stair to aſcend to the
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              Top of the Column. </s>
              <s>On ſuch Columns they
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              ſet a
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              Doric
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              Capital, but without any Gorge­
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              rine. </s>
              <s>Over the upper Cymaiſe of the Capital
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              in ſmaller Columns they made a regular Archi­
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              trave, Freze and Cornice, full of Ornaments on
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              every Side; but in theſe great Columns thoſe
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              Members were omitted, it being no eaſy Mat­
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              ter to find Stones ſufficiently large for ſuch a
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              Work, nor to ſet them in their Places when
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              found. </s>
              <s>But at the Top of the Capital both of
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              great and ſmall, there was always ſomething
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              to ſerve as a Pedeſtal for the Statue to ſtand
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              upon. </s>
              <s>If this Pedeſtal was a ſquare Plinth,
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              then none of its Angles ever exceeded the Solid
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              of the Column: But if it was round, its Dia­
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              meter was not to be more than one of the Sides
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              of ſuch a Square. </s>
              <s>The Height of the Statue
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              was one third of the Column; and for this
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              Sort of Columns thus much may ſuffice. </s>
              <s>The
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              Structure of Moles among the Ancients was as
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              follows: Firſt they raiſed a ſquare Baſement as
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              they did for the Platforms of their Temples.
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              </s>
              <s>Then they carried up a Wall not leſs high than
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              a ſixth, nor higher than a fourth of the Length
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              of the Platform. </s>
              <s>The whole Ornament of
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              this Wall was either at the Top and Bottom,
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              and ſometimes at the Angles, or elſe conſiſted
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              in a Kind of Colonade all along the Wall. </s>
              <s>If
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              there were no Columns but only at the Angles,
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              then the whole Height of the Wall, above the
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              Baſement, was divided into four Parts, three of
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              which were given to the Column with its Baſe
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              and Capital, and one to the other Ornaments
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              at the Top, to wit, the Architrave, Freze and
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              Cornice; and this laſt Part was again divided
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              into ſixteen Minutes, five of which were given
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              to the Architrave, five to the Freze, and ſix to
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              the Cornice and its Cymaiſe. </s>
              <s>The Space be­
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              tween the Architrave and the Baſement was
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              divided into five-and-twenty Parts; three
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              whereof were given to the Height of the Ca­
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              pital, and two to the Height of the Baſe, and
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              the Remainder to the Height of the Column,
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              and there were always ſquare Pilaſters at the
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              Angles according to this Proportion: The Baſe
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              conſiſted of a ſingle Torus, which was juſt half
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              the Height of the Baſe itſelf. </s>
              <s>The Pilaſter at
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              the Bottom, inſtead of a Fillet, had juſt
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              the ſame Projecture as at the Top of the
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              Shaft. </s>
              <s>The Breadth of the Pilaſter, in this
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              Sort of Structure, was one fourth of its Height;
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              but when the reſt of the Wall was adorned
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              with an Order of Columns, then the Pilaſters
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              at the Angles were in Breadth only a ſixth
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              Part of their Length, and the other Columns
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              along the Wall borrowed all their Ornaments
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              and Proportions from the Deſign of thoſe uſed
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              in Temples. </s>
              <s>There is only this Difference be­
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              tween this Sort of Colonades and the former,
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              that in the firſt, as the Baſe is continued on
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              from one Angle of the Wall to the other, at
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              the Bottom, ſo alſo are the Fillet and Aſtragal
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              at the Top of the Column under the Archi­
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              trave, which is not practiced where there are a
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              Number of Columns ſet againſt the Wall;
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              though ſome are for carrying on the Baſe quite
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              round the Structure here as well as in Temples.
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              </s>
              <s>Over this ſquare Structure which ſerved for a
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              Baſement, roſe a round one of excellent Work­
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              manſhip, exceeding the Baſement in Height
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              not leſs than half its Diameter, nor more than
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              two thirds, and the Breadth of this Rotunda
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              was never leſs than half one of the Sides of the
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              Baſement, nor more than five ſixths. </s>
              <s>Many
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              took five thirds, and over this round Building
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              raiſed another ſquare one, with a ſecond round
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              over that, after the ſame Manner as the former,
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              till the Edifice roſe to four Stories, adorning
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              them according to the foregoing Deſcription.
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              </s>
              <s>Neither within the Mole itſelf wanted there
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              Stairs, or little Chapels for Devotion, or Co­
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              lumns riſing from the Baſement to the upper
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              Stories, with Statues between them, and In­
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              ſcriptions diſpoſed in convenient Places.</s>
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