Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

Table of figures

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              <s>
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              the Circumvallation, from the upper Seat to
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              the Top of the Entablature, muſt in great
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              Theatres be allowed never more than a Third,
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              and in ſmall ones, not leſs than a Fourth. </s>
              <s>Up­
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              on this continued Pedeſtal ſtand the Columns
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              which with their Baſes and Capitals muſt be
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              equal to half the Height of the whole Circum­
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              vallation. </s>
              <s>Over theſe Columns lies their En­
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              tablature, and over all a Plain Wall, ſuch as we
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              deſcribed in Baſiliques, which Wall muſt be
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              allowed the ſixth remaining Part of the Height
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              of the Circumvallation. </s>
              <s>The Columns in this
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              Circumvallation ſhall be inſulate, raiſed aſter
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              the ſame Proportions as thoſe in the Baſiliques,
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              and in Number juſt anſwering to thoſe of the
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              three quarter Columns ſet againſt the Pilaſters
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              of the outward Portico, and they ſhall be
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              placed exactly in the ſame Rays, by which
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              Name I underſtand Lines drawn from the Cen­
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              ter of the Theatre to the outward Columns.
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              <s>In the low Wall, or continued Pedeſtal, ſet
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              under the Columns of the inner Portico, muſt
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              be certain Openings, juſt over the Paſſages be­
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              low into the Theatre, which Openings muſt
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              be in the Nature of Niches, wherein, if you
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              think fit, you may place a Sort of Vaſes of
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              Braſs, hung with their Mouths downwards,
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              that the Voice reverberating in them, may be
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              returned more ſonorous. </s>
              <s>I ſhall not here waſte
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              Time in conſidering thoſe Inſtructions in
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              Vi­
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              truvius,
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              which he borrows from the Precepts
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              of Compoſition in Muſick, according to the
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              Rules of which he is for placing the juſt men­
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              tioned Vaſes in Theatres, ſo as to correſpond
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              with the differerent Pitches of the ſeveral
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              Voices: A Curioſity eaſily talked of, but how
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              it is to be executed, let thoſe inform us, who
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              know. </s>
              <s>Thus much I muſt readily aſſent to,
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              and
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              Ariſtotle
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              himſelf is of the Opinion, that
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              hollow Veſſels of any Sort, and Wells too, are
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              of Service in ſtrengthening the Sound of the
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              Voice. </s>
              <s>But to return to the Portico on the
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              Inſide of the Theatre. </s>
              <s>The back Wall of this
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              Portico muſt be quite cloſe and entire, and ſo
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              ſhut in the whole Circumvallation, that the
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              Voice arriving there, may not be loſt. </s>
              <s>On the
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              Outſide of the Wall to the Street, we may ap­
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              ply Columns as Ornaments, in Number,
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              Height, Proportions and Members, exactly an­
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              ſwering to thoſe in the Porticoes under them,
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              in the outward Front of the Theatre. </s>
              <s>From
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              what has been ſaid, it is eaſy to collect in what
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              Particulars the greater Theatres differ from the
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              ſmaller. </s>
              <s>In the greater, the outward Portico
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              below is double, in the ſmaller ſingle: In the
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              former, there may be three Orders of Columns,
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              one over the other; in the latter, not more
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              than two. </s>
              <s>They alſo differ in this, that ſome
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              ſmall Theatres have no Portico at all on the
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              Inſide, but for their Circumvallation, have on­
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              ly a plain Wall and a Cornice, which is in­
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              tended for the ſame Purpoſe of returning the
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              Voice, as the Portico in great Theatres, and
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              in ſome of the largeſt Theatres, even this in­
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              ward Portico is double. </s>
              <s>Laſtly, the outward
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              Covering of the Theatre muſt be well plaiſter­
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              ed or coated, and made ſo ſloping that the
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              Water may run into Pipes placed in the Angles
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              of the Building, which muſt carry it off private­
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              ly into proper Drains. </s>
              <s>Upon the upper Cor­
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              nice on the Outſide of the Theatre, Mutules
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              and Stays muſt be contrived to ſupport Poles,
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              like the Maſts of Ships to which to faſten the
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              Ropes for ſpreading the Vela or Covering of
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              the Theatre upon any extraordinary Repreſen­
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              tation. </s>
              <s>And as we are to raiſe ſo great a Pile
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              of Building to a juſt Height, the Wall ought to
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              be allowed a due Thickneſs for the ſupporting
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              ſuch a Weight. </s>
              <s>Let the Thickneſs therefore
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              of the outward Wall of the firſt Colonade be a
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              fifteenth Part of the Height of the whole Struc­
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              ture. </s>
              <s>The middle Wall between the two Por­
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              ticoes, when theſe are double, muſt want one
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              fourth Part of the Thickneſs of the outward
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              one. </s>
              <s>The next Story raiſed above this may be
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              a twelfth Part thinner than the lower one.</s>
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              <s>CHAP. VIII.</s>
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              <s>
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              Of the Ornaments of the Amphitheatre, Circus, publick Walks, and Halls,
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              and Courts for petty Judges.
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              <s>Having ſaid thus much of Theatres,
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              it is neceſſary to give ſome Account
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              of the Circus and Amphitheatre which all owe
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              their Original to the Theatre, for the Circus is
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              indeed nothing elſe but a Theatre with its
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              Horns ſtretched further on in Lines equi-diſ­
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              tant one from the other, only that the Nature
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              of this Building does not require Portices; and </s>
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