Foundations of Western Civilization

The Greek Influence

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DORIC COLUMNS

Temple of Apollo, Corinth

c. 540 B.C.

The column is the basic element in Greek architecture. It is both structural and sculptural. There are three types or orders of Greek columns. The oldest, dating to about 600 B.C., is the Doric. Normally standing right on the floor, the shaft is made of a series of drums which are rounded, doweled together, tapered upward and fluted, usually twenty times. On top of the shaft sits a two-part capital carved in a single block. The bottom is the cushion or echinus and the top is a flat square slab called the abacus. There is a natural ring where the capital and shaft meet and this is emphasized by the addition of several carved rings. The column height is four to six and one half times the diameter at the base of the shaft. These seven Doric columns, the oldest to survive intact, are from the temple of Apollo at Corinth. Each shaft, over twenty feet high, is cut from a solid limestone block that was surfaced with stucco made of marble dust. While the columns seem simple and stumpy, the sharp-ridged fluting is evidence of a high degree of mastery of stone carving. They are bellied slightly at the center that keeps them from seeming too dumpy. 

SCHEMATIC OF DORIC

Entablature

Resting on the slab like abacus, the Doric entablature is made up of three parts. The lowest portion, the architrave (A) is generally a straight cut supporting member composed of blocks of stone that meet over the abacus. Above the architrave is the frieze (B). In Doric entablatures, this frieze generally is a series of sculpted metopes (the rectangular panels in the upper works), separated by a carved triglyphs. Some early temples have plain metopes between the triglyphs. Above the frieze is the cornice (C) that serves to join the entablature to the overhanging eave of the roof.

IONIC COLUMNS

Temple of Artemis, Sardis

c. 330 B.C.

The Ionic column is distinguished by its volute or scroll capital. More slender than the Doric column, its height is eight or nine times the diameter of the shaft. Normally the Ionic column has twenty-four flutes that are separated by fillets or soft edges; some examples have as many as forty-eight flutes. There is a column base, the most notable type consisting of a torus or convex molding above, a three-part concave molding, and a torus below. All the carving is on a high level. These Ionic columns from the temple of Artemis were left unfluted when work on the temple stopped. Fluting ordinarily takes place after the column is assembled.

IONIC DRAWING

Ionic shafts were taller than Doric ones, making them look slender. They also had flutes, which are lines carved into them from top to bottom. The shafts also had a special characteristic: entasis, which is a little bulge in the columns make the columns look straight, even at a distance.  Since you would see the building from eye level, the shafts would appear to get narrower as they rise, so this bulge makes up for that - so it looks straight to your eye but it really isn't.  The frieze is plain. The bases were large and looked like a set of stacked rings. Ionic capitals consist of scrolls above the shaft. The Ionic style is a little more decorative than the Doric.

CORINTHIAN COLUMNS

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Athens

c. 170 B.C.

The Corinthian column is similar to the Ionic column in its shaft and base. Only the capital differs, with its acanthus leaf, foliage, or flower carvings.

Corinthian

The Corinthian order is the most decorative and is usually the one most modern people like best. Corinthian columns also use entasis to make the shafts look straight. The Corinthian capitals have flowers and leaves below a small scroll. The shaft has flutes and the base is like the Ionian. Unlike the Doric and Ionian cornices, which are at a slant, the Corinthian roofs are flat.

CORINTHIAN COLUMN

c. 360 B.C.
 

A carved Corinthian column from the inner colonnade of the Tholos. A portion of the entablature rests on the column.

ACROPOLIS

Athens
Second half 5th century B.C.

The Acropolis means the highest city. Originally it was a fortress, a place of protection. During a peaceful period in the second half of the fifth century B.C., under the leadership of Pericles and the artistic supervision of Phidias, the Athenians built their sanctuary to Athena on the old acropolis site, high up on an isolated mountain cliff. In Pentelic marble silhouetted against the sky, they created in a thirty-year period perhaps the greatest architectural achievement in the world.

APPROACH TO THE ACROPOLIS

Athens

The Acropolis is approached from the west. High on the man-made bastion at the right sits the Ionic temple of Athena Nike. The center columns are surviving elements of the Propylaea.

PARTHENON

Architects/Builders: Ictinus and Callicrates
From the northwest
Acropolis, Athens
447-432 B.C.

Dedicated to the virgin Athena Parthenos, the great Parthenon was designed by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates and built over the years 447-432 B.C. Basically it is a simple rectangular building, 237 feet long by 110 1/2 feet wide, with Doric columns around its four sides, supporting an architrave, frieze, and cornice. A pediment on each end rises to a slanting roof. With the exception of the roof frame and parts of the ceiling, the entire temple is constructed in marble. To this day the Parthenon remains a masterpiece of proportion. 

PARTHENON

 
From the east
Acropolis, Athens
447-432 B.C.

This is the temple entrance from the east end.

Detail, IONIC COLUMN BASE

Erechtheum
Acropolis, Athens
421-405 B.C.

Decoration throughout the Erechtheum is elaborate and formal. The carving is on a very high level. These are excellent examples of the bases of Ionic columns.

CHAIR AND SMALL TABLE

 
Vase painting
475-450 B.C.
Torno Collection, Milan

In the klismos, the classic chair, the legs swing outward and the back swings upward in a continuous line. Early in the fifth century the leg had no foot. A broad horizontal slat is added to the top of the back that encircles the shoulders. The three legs of the small table curve in the same line as the chair.

KLISMOS

c. 400 B.C.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens

A klismos - undecorated, simple, graceful, and elegant. Notice the low footstool.

COUCHES AND TABLES

 
Corinthian column-krater
End of 7th century B.C.
Louvre, Paris

The couch or kline serves as both bed and sofa and is commonly used during meals. These couches or beds from the archaic period have turned legs, mattresses, covers, and pillows. Next to the beds are simple serving tables with turned clawed feet and stretchers.

CARVED WOODEN TABLE

 
2nd or 3rd century B.C.
Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels

A three-legged table, one of the four pieces of Greek furniture to survive. It has carved antelope legs, ending with the heads of swans as they come out of acanthus leaves.

The Roman Influence

STATUES OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS AND TEMPLE OF ANTONIUS AND FAUSTINA

Forum Romanum
Rome
Begun 141

Statues of Vestal Virgins are placed around the courtyard of the House of the Vestal Virgins, restored around 100. The prestigious Vestals, daughters of Roman patricians, protected the fire in the Temple of Vesta, the oldest and most sacred shrine in the forum. The Temple of Antonius and Faustina, begun in 141 and now destroyed except for the porch, is in the background.

ANATOMY OF A ROMAN ARCH

 
from "Empires Ascendant"
Time frame 400 BC - AD 200
Time Life Books

To support the weight of the arches, it was necessary to provide a way of transmitting the force to massive piers to the foundation of the arch. The Romans achieved this through the use of the Keystone block. The force was directed down onto the top of the keystone. Because of its shape the force was translated to the voussoir blocks of the arch that in turn translated the force through the impost to the piers. During construction, the voussoir's were supported by a temporary wooden frame until the keystone was inserted.

TEMPLE OF HERCULES

 
Cori
Late 2nd century B.C.

A small Doric temple with columns fluted on the upper two-thirds. The bottom part was probably stuccoed red, a common feature in Pompeian columns. The depth of the porch is equal to its width. Notice the platform made of cement and stone.

MAISON CARRÉE

 
Nîmes
c. 19 B.C.

The Maison Carrée is the best-preserved Roman temple. It has a high podium and six Corinthian columns support the entablature. Also typical is the height of the porch, in this case: 16 steps high.

PANTHEON

 
Rome
c. 118-128

The Pantheon is one of the most important buildings in architectural history. Built by Hadrian, the greatness of this temple to the gods is difficult to appreciate from the exterior. A large Corinthian portico, 110 feet wide by 60 feet deep, is attached to a circular drum, with a small section of a dome appearing above. 

PANTHEON

 
Rome
c. 118-128

The interior space of the Pantheon is awesome. Proportioned like a circle within a square, a hemispherical dome sits on a cylindrical drum. The diameter of the dome is 141 feet and it rises 141 feet from the floor to the top of the ceiling.

COLOSSEUM

 
Rome
70-82

The Coliseum is an elliptical building made to hold 50,000 spectators for sporting and theatrical events. It is four stories high with rings of arcades on the first three levels. The arches have attached three-quarter columns, Doric on the first level, Ionic on the second, and Corinthian on the third. The top story has Corinthian pilasters. From here a large awning, the vlarium, could be stretched across the entire amphitheatre. The Coliseum was constructed under three emperors, Vespasian, Titus, and Dominitan. More than any other single building, its construction details, engineering, and sense of power and authority speak to the Roman culture.

COLOSSEUM FACADE

 
Rome
70-82

A detail of the facade. Originally statues stood in the arches on the second and third stories. People entered through the ground floor arches according to where they sat.

Interior, COLOSSEUM

 
Rome
70-82

In the center is the substructure beneath the arena floor. Almost forty feet deep, it contained a system of corridors for slaves, caged animals, and machinery for performances. It also held the plumbing to flood the arena for water events. Social strata strictly divided the tiers of seats. The emperor and his family and court sat in the first tier; patricians and gentry were in the second tier; ladies were in the third tier; and common people sat on the top. Barrel vaults were the main supports of the heavy tiers.

ARCH OF TITUS

 
Forum Romanum
Rome
81

Roman soldiers marched through the triumphal archway and entered the forum on their way back from war. This ritual procession cleansed them of the blood of the enemy. Beautifully proportioned to minimize its weight, the Arch of Titus has many Greek details. The outside columns are the earliest examples of the Composite order.

ARCH OF HADRIAN

 
Athens
Shortly after 138

This unusual commemorative arch, built shortly after the death of Hadrian, combines Roman elements on the bottom with Greek elements on the top. Missing are the original sculptures which helped tie the arch together.

ARCH OF CONSTANTINE

 
Rome
315

The Arch of Constantine, like several arches before it, has three passageways. It is unusually large and highly decorated. Much of the sculpture was taken from earlier monuments.

Gaius Julius Lacer

 
Roman bridge
Alcántara, Spain
106

Built of square hewn granite stones, this handsome bridge uses six arches to cross the river. The two central arches are 157 feet high and almost 100 feet across. A triumphal arch is over the central pillar.

COMPOSITE COLUMN

 
Horrea Epagathiana
Ostia
c. 145-150

A composite capital in stucco and brick on a warehouse in Ostia.

THRONE WITH TURNED LEGS

 
From a wall painting in a Villa
at Boscoreale
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York

Roman furniture is largely based on Greek models. In many instances, it is hard to tell if a piece is Roman or Greek. But there are variations and some original forms. In this throne of a woman playing the kithara, the form is predominantly Greek; though the more elaborate leg turnings, arm-rails, and paneled back are Roman. The painted pattern on the back of the throne is also a typical Roman embellishment. Notice the cushion embroidered in gold. 

BRONZE COUCH

 
From a villa at
Boscoreale
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Most Roman couches have turned legs. This bronze example from Boscoreale is typical of the late Republican and early Imperial couch. A simple carved headboard ends in a swan's head; a rosette medallion is at the lower end. The legs have a variety of turnings and are supported by stretchers.

COUCH AND FOOTSTOOL

 
From a villa at
Boscoreale
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York

This more elaborate couch is made of bone and glass inlay. Notice the matching footstool.

MARBLE TABLE

 
From a house in Pompeii
1st century

The Roman table, unlike the Greek, is used as a permanent piece of furniture. This traditional marble table or cartibulum stands in the atrium of a house in Pompeii. The thick marble top is precisely shaped as a rectangle and supported by four legs. The tapered legs are elegantly carved with volutes at the top. Three flutes run down the side to a lion's paw that rests on a high base. The grain of the marble is employed throughout for its decorative value.

BRONZE TABLE

 
From the House of Julia Flex Pompeii
National Museum
Naples

The round-top table with three animal legs is a form the Romans adopted from the Greeks. This elaborate example in bronze has clawed feet and animal legs that are connected with fancy scroll braces. Winged sphinxes support the decorated top.

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