Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

Table of figures

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              <s>
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              natural Beauty in the Figures and Forms of
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              Buildings, which immediately ſtrike the Mind
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              with Pleaſure and Admiration. </s>
              <s>It is my Opi­
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              nion, that Beauty, Majeſty, Gracefulneſs, and
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              the like Charms, conſiſt in thoſe Particulars
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              which if you alter or take away, the Whole
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              would be made homely and diſagreeable. </s>
              <s>If
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              we are convinced of this, it can be no very te­
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              dious Enquiry to conſider thoſe Things which
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              may be taken away, encreaſed or altered, eſpe­
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              cially in Figures and Forms: For every Body
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              conſiſts of certain peculiar Parts, of which if
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              you take away any one, or leſſen, or enlarge it,
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              or remove it to an improper Place; that which
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              before gave the Beauty and Grace to this Body
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              will at once be lamed and ſpoild. </s>
              <s>From hence
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              we may conclude, to avoid Prolixity in this
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              Reſearch, that there are three Things princi­
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              pally in which the Whole of what we are look­
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              ing into conſiſts: The Number, and that which
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              I have called the Finiſhing, and the Collocati­
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              on. </s>
              <s>But there is ſtill ſomething elſe beſides,
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              which ariſes from the Conjunction and Con­
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              nection of theſe other Parts, and gives the
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              Beauty and Grace to the Whole: Which we
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              will call Congruity, which we may conſider as
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              the Original of all that is graceful and hand­
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              ſome. </s>
              <s>The Buſineſs and Office of Congruity
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              is to put together Members differing from each
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              other in their Natures, in ſuch a Manner, that
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              they may conſpire to form a beautiful Whole:
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              So that whenever ſuch a Compoſition offers it­
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              ſelf to the Mind, either by the Conveyance of
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              the Sight, Hearing, or any of the other Senſes,
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              we immediately perceive this Congruity: For
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              by Nature we deſire Things perfect, and ad­
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              here to them with Pleaſure when they are of­
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              fered to us; nor does this Congruity ariſe ſo
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              much from the Body in which it is found, or
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              any of its Members, as from itſelf, and from
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              Nature, ſo that its true Seat is in the Mind and
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              in Reaſon; and accordingly it has a very large
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              Field to exerciſe itſelf and flouriſh in, and runs
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              through every Part and Action of Man's Life,
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              and every Production of Nature herſelf, which
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              are all directed by the Law of Congruity, nor
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              does Nature ſtudy any Thing more than to
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              make all her Works abſolute and perfect, which
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              they could never be without this Congruity,
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              ſince they would want that Conſent of Parts
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              which is ſo neceſſary to Perfection. </s>
              <s>But we
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              need not ſay more upon this Point, and if what
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              we have here laid down appears to be true, we
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              may conclude Beauty to be ſuch a Conſent and
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              Agreement of the Parts of a Whole in which it
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              is found, as to Number, Finiſhing and Collo­
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              cation, as Congruity, that is to ſay, the princi­
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              pal Law of Nature requires. </s>
              <s>This is what Ar­
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              chitecture chiefly aims at, and by this ſhe ob­
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              tains her Beauty, Dignity and Value. </s>
              <s>The
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              Ancients knowing from the Nature of Things,
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              that the Matter was in Fact as I have here ſtat­
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              ed it, and being convinced, that if they neglect­
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              ed this main Point they ſhould never produce
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              any Thing great or commendable, did in their
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              Works propoſe to themſelves chiefly the Imi­
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              tation of Nature, as the greateſt Artiſt at all
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              Manner of Compoſitions; and for this Purpoſe
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              they laboured, as far as the Induſtry of Man
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              could reach, to diſcover the Laws upon which
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              ſhe herſelf acted in the Production of her
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              Works, in order to transfer them to the Buſi­
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              neſs of Architecture. </s>
              <s>Reflecting therefore up­
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              on the Practice of Nature as well with Relati­
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              on to an entire Body, as to its ſeveral Parts,
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              they found from the very firſt Principles of
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              Things, that Bodies were not always compoſed
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              of equal Parts or Members; whence it happens,
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              that of the Bodies produced by Nature, ſome
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              are ſmaller, ſome larger, and ſome middling:
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              And conſidering that one Building differed
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              from another, upon account of the End for
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              which it was raiſed, and the Purpoſe which it
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              was to ſerve, as we have ſhewn in the ſore­
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              going Books, they found it neceſſary to make
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              them of various Kinds. </s>
              <s>Thus from an Imi­
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              tation of Nature they invented three Manners
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              of adorning a Building, and gave them Names
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              drawn from their firſt Inventors. </s>
              <s>One was
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              better contrived for Strength and Duration:
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              This they called
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              Doric;
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              another was more ta­
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              per and beautiful, this they named
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              Corinthian;
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              another was a Kind of Medium compoſed from
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              the other two, and this they called
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              Ionic.
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              </s>
              <s> Thus
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              much related to the whole Body in general.
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              </s>
              <s>Then obſerving, that thoſe three Things which
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              we have already mentioned, namely, the Num­
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              ber, Finiſhing and Collocation, were what
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              chiefly conduced to make the whole beautiful,
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              they found how they were to make uſe of this
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              from a thorough Examination of the Works of
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              Nature, and, as I imagine, upon the following
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              Principles. </s>
              <s>The firſt Thing they obſerved, as
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              to Number, was that is was of two Sorts, even
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              and uneven, and they made uſe of both, but
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              in different Occaſions: For, from the Imita­
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              tion of Nature, they never made the Ribs of
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              their Structure, that is to ſay, the Columns,
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              Angles and the like, in uneven Numbers; as
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              you ſhall not find any Animal that ſtands or </s>
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