Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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1Writing whatſoever; but the Manner of ex­
preſſing
their Senſe which they uſed upon theſe
Occaſions
, by Symbols, they thought muſt al­
ways
be underſtood by ingenious Men of all
Nations
, to whom alone they were of Opinion,
that
Things of Moment were fit to be commu­
nicated
.
In Imitation of this Practice, various
Symbols
have been uſed upon Sepulchres.
Over
the
Grave of Diogenes the Cynic, was a Column
with
a Dog upon the Top of it, cut in Parian
Marble
. Cicero glories, that he who was of
Arpinum, was the Diſcoverer at Syracuſe of
Archimedes's Tomb, which was quite decayed
and
neglected, and all over-grown with Bram­
bles
, and not known, even to the Inhabitants
of
the Place, and which he found out by a Cy­
linder
and ſmall Sphere which he ſaw cut upon
a
high Column that ſtood over it.
On the
Sepulchre
of Symandes, King of Ægypt, the
Figure
of his Mother was cut out of a Piece of
Marble
twenty Cubits high, with three Royal
Diadems
upon her Head, denoting her to be
the
Daughter, Wife and Mother of a King.
On the Tomb of Sardanapalus, King of the
Aſſyrians, was a Statue which ſeemed to clap
its
Hands together by Way of Applauſe, with
an
Epitaph to this Effect: In one ſingle Day I
built
Tarſus and Archileum; but do you, Friend,
eat
, drink and be merry; for there is nothing elſe
among
Men that is worthy of this Applauſe.
Such
were the Inſcriptions and Symbols uſed
in
thoſe Nations.
But our Romans recorded
the
Exploits of their great Men, by carving
their
Story in Marble.
This gave riſe to Co­
lumns
, Triumphal Arches, Porticoes enriched
with
memorable Events, preſerved both in
Painting
and Sculpture.
But no Monument of
this
Nature ſhould be made, except for Acti­
ons
that truly deſerve to be perpetuated.
But
we
have now dwelt long enough upon this
Subject
.
We have ſpoken of the publick Ways
by
Land; and the ſame Ornaments will ſerve
thoſe
by Water: But as high Watch-towers
belong
to both, it is neceſſary here to ſay ſome­
thing
of them.
*
The greateſt Ornaments are lofty Tow­
ers
placed in proper Situations, and built
after
handſome Deſigns: And when there are
a
good Number of them ſtrewed up and down
the
Country, they afford a moſt beautiful Pro­
ſpect
: Not that I commend the Age about
two
hundred Years ago, when People ſeemed
to
be ſeized with a Kind of general Infection
of
building high Watch-towers, even in the
meaneſt
Villages, inſomuch that ſcarce a com­
mon
Houſe-keeper thought he could not be
without
his Turret: By which means there
aroſe
a perfect Grove of Spires.
Some are of
Opinion
, that the Minds of Men take particu­
lar
Turns, at certain Seaſons, by the Influence
of
ſome Planet.
Between three and four hun­
dred
Years ſince the Zeal for Religion was ſo
warm
, that Men ſeemed born for no other Em­
ployment
but to build Churches and Chapels;
for
, to omit other Inſtances, in the ſingle City
of
Rome at this Day, though above half thoſe
ſacred
Structures are now ruinate, we ſee above
two
thouſand five hundred Churches ſtill re­
maining
.
And now again, what can be the
Reaſon
, that juſt at this Time all Italy ſhould
be
fired with a Kind of Emulation to put on
quite
a new Face?
How many Towns, which
when
we were Children, were built of nothing
but
Wood, are now lately ſtarted up all of
Marble
?
But to return to the Subject of Tow­
ers
.
I ſhall not here ſtay to repeat what we
read
in Herodotus, that in the Middle of the
Temple
at Babylon there was a Tower, the
Baſe
whereof was a whole Furlong, or the
eighth
Part of a Mile, on every Side, and which
conſiſted
of eight Stories built one above an­
other
; a Way of Building which I extremely
commend
in Towers, becauſe each Story grow­
ing
leſs and leſs all the Way up, conduces both
to
Strength and Beauty, and by being well knit
one
into another, makes the whole Structure
firm
.
Towers are either ſquare or round, and
in
both theſe the Height muſt anſwer in a cer­
tain
Proportion to the Breadth.
When they
are
deſigned to be very taper, ſquare ones
ſhould
be ſix Times as high as they are broad,
and
round ones ſhould have four Times the
Height
of their Diameter.
Thoſe which are
intended
to be very thick, ſhould have in
Height
, if ſquare, but four Times their Breadth,
and
if round, but three Diameters.
The Thick­
neſs
of the Walls, if they are forty Cubits high,

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