Fig. 127. Early Corinthian Capital.

Fig. 127. Early Corinthian Capital.

An early Corinthian capital (Fig. 127), taken from the church of S. Niccolo in Carcere, shows a capital, evidently of Greek workmanship, which bears a close relation to those employed in the Temple of Jupiter Olympus at Athens.

Temple of Castor and Pollux, Cora. The capital from the Temple of Castor and Pollux (Fig. 128) is one of the remains found at Cora, and is as undoubtedy of Greek workmanship as it is an early Roman example of the Order. This is another of the drawings by Emanuel Brune. The base is an interesting example of an early Roman Corinthian outline; and the capital is somewhat shorter in proportion than the later Roman type. The leafage and ornamentation are very near the Creek in feeling, and it should be noted how closely the leaves in their profile follow the growth and emphasize the outlines of the column itself. The capital already referred to and shown in Fig. 109 is probably of about the same date; and both these examples, along with the two or three other earliest Roman uses of the Order, show a method of treatment and a strength of outline that is too often lacking in other Roman work.

Fig, 128. Roman Corinthian Capital and Base. (Restoration.) From drawing by Emanuel Brune.

Fig, 128. Roman Corinthian Capital and Base. (Restoration.) From drawing by Emanuel Brune.

Temple of Mars Ultor, Rome. Among the earliest Roman buildings upon which this Order was employed, is the Temple of Mars Ultor or Mars Vengeur, dating from about 42 B. C, of which three columns remain standing in the Forum. This building, backing up against the Quirinal Hill, formed a part of the Forum of Augustus, and already displays a beautifully developed Roman type (Fig. 129). This Order is shown in an engraving from another of the famous Brune drawings, the original being the property of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The original was drawn at a scale of two centimeters per meter-about equivalent to the one-quarter inch scale of our system of figuring. The tremendous size of the building, and the scale of the different parts, may be estimated from the steps and the height of the figures shown in the lower portion of the drawing. Aside from the beauty of the rendering, the student should notice particularly that the columns are all rendered very lightly, the general effect being almost white in front of the background, which, although not entirely in shadow, is rendered darker to show that it is on a plane farther back than the columns. This drawing displays with unusual beauty of rendering the shafts and full proportions of the Roman Corinthian Order, and, incidentally, a very restrained example of a Roman doorway appropriate for use with the Corinthian column.

The Temple of Concord, rebuilt by Augustus approximately 7 B. C, has an extremely beautiful capital and entablature. The capital contains two ram's heads used in the place of the more conventional corner volutes; but this eccentricity, with the consequent loss of sharpness of outline of the capital itself, is not sufficient to spoil the effect of the Order as a whole.

Fig. 129. Detail from Temple of Mars Vengeur, Rome. (Restoration.) Prom drawing by Emanuel Brune.

Fig. 129. Detail from Temple of Mars Vengeur, Rome. (Restoration.) Prom drawing by Emanuel Brune.

Pantheon, Rome. The portico of the Pantheon is of earlier date than the remainder of the building. This building was erected-on the site of an earlier temple built by Agrippa-some time during the reign of Augustus (B.C. 27-A. 1) 14); and the present entrance portico contains eight columns of the original ten-column pedimented end of the older building. This accounts for the fact that the sides of the brackets, or modillions, in the cornice of the pediment are not exactly perpendicular, but slightly inclined. This difference would naturally occur in adapting the two inclined cornices of the earlier pediment to the different slope required by the narrower base of the new pediment face. The dentil course in the cornice has never been carved (see Plate LIII). The columns from both the interior and the exterior of the Pantheon are superb forms of the best type of Roman Corinthian. The round part of the building dates from about 121) A. D. The Orders used on the Pantheon are of a special interest from the fact that this building shows side by side the different workings out of the same Order when used on the exterior and interior of a monumental building. Therefore the differences displayed in the various proportions and relations of the mouldings and the placing of the ornament in these two Orders, are most suggestive, and, until the reasons covering their arrangement are apprehended, will deserve careful study.

Temples of Vesta. There are two Temples of Vesta, probably both erected during the reign of Augustus. The one in Rome, of which three slender columns are still standing in the Forum, was one of the most beautiful examples of Roman architecture, and was probably of Greek workmanship. The other, a circular temple overhanging the gorge of the river at Tivoli, has a capital very similar in general character and outline to the two examples illustrated from Cora. The temple itself has a cella, which yet retains one of its two windows and a doorway, the latter illustrated separately on a plate that is referred to later. This cella is 21 feet in diameter, possibly of an earlier date than the 18 columns of the peristyle which surround it. These columns are I8 feet 5 inches high, and are placed on a podium 6 feet high. The columns, it will be seen, are rather stumpy in effect, being only about 9 1/4 diameters high, with the capital 1 diameter-proportions of unusual strength, and evidently in part adapted to the location of the temple on the top of a cliff' overhanging the river below. The carving of these capitals is especially vigorous and most effectively suited to the proportions of the column shaft. (See Fig. 130).