A History of Architecture in all Countries, Volumes 1 and 2, 3rd ed.: From the Earliest Times to the Present DayFergusson, James
History
A History of Architecture in all Countries, Volumes 1 and 2, 3rd ed.: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
Fergusson, James
Architecture -- History
The next class of temples, called pseudo-peripteral (or those in which
the cella occupies the whole of the after part), are generally more
modern, certainly more completely Roman, than these last. One of the
best specimens at Rome is the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, a small
building measuring 72 ft. by 120. There is also a very elegant little
Ionic temple of this class called that of Fortuna Virilis; while the
Ionic Temple of Concord, built by Vespasian, and above alluded to,
appears also to have been of this class. So was the temple in the forum
at Pompeii; but the finest specimen now remaining to us is the so-called
Maison Carrée at Nîmes, which is indeed one of the most elegant temples
of the Roman world, owing probably a great deal of its beauty to the
taste of the Grecian colonists long settled in its neighbourhood. It is
hexastyle, with 11 columns in the flanks, 3 of which stand free, and
belong to the portico; the remaining 8 are attached to the walls of the
cella. The temple is small, only 45 ft. by 85; but such is the beauty of
its proportions and the elegance of its details that it strikes every
beholder with admiration.
[Illustration: 187. Plan of Maison Carrée at Nîmes. Scale 100 ft. to 1
in.]
The date of this temple has not been satisfactorily ascertained. From
the nail-holes of the inscription on the frieze it has been attempted to
make out the names of Caius and Lucius Cæsar, and there is nothing in
the style of its architecture to contradict this hypothesis. Even if the
buildings in the capital were such as to render this date ambiguous, it
would scarcely be safe to apply any argument derived from them to a
provincial example erected in the midst of a Grecian colony. But for
their evidence we might almost be inclined to fancy its style
represented the age of Trajan.
The temple of Diana in the same city is another edifice of singular
beauty of detail, and interesting from the peculiarity of its plan.
Exclusive of the portico it is nearly square, 70 ft. by 65, and consists
of a cella which is covered with a stone ribbed vault, the thrust of
which is counteracted by smaller vaults thrown across two side passages
or aisles which are, however, not thrown open to the cella. The columns
in the cella are detached from the wall, which is singularly interesting
as the origin of much which we find afterwards in Gothic work. (A
somewhat similar arrangement is found in the small temple at Baalbec
(Woodcut No. 197) where, however, the peristyle occupies the position
and serves the same purpose as the aisles at Nîmes, viz., to resist the
thrust of the vault over the cella.)
[Illustration: 188. Plan of Temple of Diana at Nîmes. Scale 100 ft. to 1
in.]
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