944 PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE. Book III.

Fig. 1027.
TBTRASTYLE PORilCOES.
out ; the eye is satisfied that
the load cannot distress its suiiports, and the spaces between
thi' supporting masses are again proportioned and made equal to either, so that we have a
triple division,
one, the per-
pendicular arrangements of the
sujjports, another their just
distribution or equal distances,
and the third, the entablature
pro|)ortioned to the strength
that is to carry it, all of which
ire comprised within the boun-
dary of a square. The tetra-
Btyle porticoes that remain are
not numerous, and none are
perfect ; three have been se-
lected, which will enable us to
test the idea we have attempted
to define. First.that at Eleusis,
the entire width of which is
20 feet 6 inches, the height
21 feet 6 inches ; and if we
reject half the height of the
pediment we shall have a
square : the united dia-
meter of tlie columns only
v.iries 5 inches in width
from those of the intercolum-
niations.
If we divide the height into three, rejecting, as already observed, half the pediment, which
in this case is 1 foot
Ji inch, we have for the height of the square 20 feet 4 inches, whilst
the entire width is 20 feet 6 inches, a difference not very great : this divided into three, and
giving two-thirds to the height of the columns, would make them only 13 feet 6 inches and
8 seconds, whilst they really are 14 feet
2i
inches in height. In this exainple the entire
height, which we may call 21 feet
5|
inches, is divided into three, two parts of which
constitute the height of the columns.
In the Temple
of
Themis at lihamtitis, the width is 20 feet 1 1 inches, and the height
the same, the diameters of the columns being in excess 3 inches only above the width of
ihe intcrcolumniations.
Ill the Doric Portico at Athens, the entire height equals nearly the width.
Hkxustyle Porticoes.

The practice of the Dorian architects, in setting out a temple

uith six columns in front, appears sometimes to have been to divide the width into twelve
parts, the height without the pediment being made equal to eight of them; thus forming
a fa9ade within a parallelogram or a square and a half: as the ninth division in height cuts
the pediment in half, we have thirty-six squares for the entablature or mass supported,
being the same quantity found in the six columns and the five intcrcolumniations; at other
times we find the entire width divided into nine parts, and six given to the height, one of
which indicates the pediment, thus rising a nintii : if a circle be described in the tympanum,
and a horizontal line drawn through the centre, cuttmg off' a twelfth of the height, the
remaining
\}^
being divided into three equal parts, the upper third, or entablature, being
the part supi)orted, the remaining? are divided between the columns and their interspaces;
thus making the columns equal to
|
of the height comjiriscd between the centre of the
tympanum and the platform upon which they were placed.
If we take each of these nine parts as 5 feet, we have 45 feet for the width, 30 for the
height, including the 5 feet for the rise of the pediment, wliich if we divide by the horizontal
line, to obtain its true area or quantity, we shall have 2 feet 6 inches for its mean height,
and 6 feet 8 inches for that of the level entablature : for as we have observed, these two
dimensions, wliich make 9 feet 2 inches, must be equal to half the height of the columns, or
the whole will not be divided into three parts ; or, which is the same thing, the height from
the centre of the pediment must be divided into three parts, and the upper division taken
for the entablature. These proportions are exceedingly siinple in their application
;
if it
were intended that the columns and the spaces between them shoidd be ecjual, half the width
of the fa9ade, or 22 feet 6 inches, should be distributed among the intcrcolumniations,
and the other half divided among the columns.
The Temple
of
Theseus at Athens is one of the best preserved as well as the most admired,
and was probably erected soon after the Tarthenon ;
it is of Pcntelican marble, adorned
with admirable scuqitures. The total width of its hexastyle portico is 45 feet, and its height,
msteadof 30, is 31 feet; the extra foot, which prevents it being an exact square and a half, is
given to the pediment, which probably has undergone some change, as it rises much mate
than the ninth of its whole extent.