The Trapezopboron.

The Console. 235

PiATE 144. The Trapezophoeon.
1. Marble support of antique table, Museum, Naples (judging trom
the symbolism of the ornamentation, the leg is probably from
a table sacred to Zeus), (L'art pour tous).
2
3. Front and side view of a small Eoman table-support, marble,
Naples Museum, Panther claw, Eros garbed with the nebris.
4. Roman table-support, marble, British Museum.
5.

,
Head of Hercules and lion claw,
Vatican.
6. Antique Support, marble, (Yulliamy).
The Console. (Plates 145147.)
The form of the Console is extremely varied; as are its uses
and applications. It is determined by the function, and the material
of which it is made, as well as by the style of the period.
Architectural members of the character of Consoles are early
found in the Chinese and Indian, as also in the Assyrian style; but
in the Egyptian style they are wanting.
Volute Consoles, very beautifully developed, are found sporadi-
cally in the Greek style; but the Roman style was the first to make
an extensive use of these forms.
The decorated ends of Beams are probably to be regarded as
the original model for Consoles. The S-shaped double volute, with a
large and a small spiral, is the standard form. In this Console, the
line of construction and the space for the actual decoration are given
in the side-view, while the front, which is subordinate, is ornamented
by scale motives, and leaves, which adapt themselves in graceful curves
to the standard forms.
When the Console is used in the Console-band of a Cornice, or
as the bracket of a Balcony, its attitude is recumbent. When it sup-
ports the Cornices of doors and windows, its attitude is erect. No
other application is known in the Antique. A beautiful example
occurs on the North door of the Erechtheum at Athens (Plate 145.
1

2).
Some examples of recumbent Consoles, of Roman style, are
given in figs.
3

8,
of the same plate. The example
8

4,
of the
Late Roman epoch, shows decorative accessories of Swans. The bend
of the curve of the volute here departs from the normal example,
and approaches a more convex curve, which is demanded by the static
calculation for these supports.
The Early Christian and Romanesque art adopted coarse copies
of the Antique, and also created new ones suited to the new require-
ments. Thus early, we find those modillion forms which become
typical for the wooden architecture of the Middle ages, being chiefly