ELFRIC. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 76. AERIAL PERspective. The relative apparent recession of objects from the foreground, owing to the quantity of air interposed between them and the spectator. It accompanies the recession of the perspective lines. ESTHETICS, (Gr. AloonTikos, having the power of perception by means of the senses.) It is in the fine arts that science which derives the first principles from the effect which certain combinations have on the mind as connected with nature and right reason. p. 673. ETHERIUS. See ARCHITECTs, list of, 60. See ETIAIOI. (Gr. Aeros, an eagle.) The name given by the Greek architects to the slabs forming the face of the tympanum of a pediment. This word occurs in the Athenian inscription now in the British Museum, brought to England by Dr. Chandler, and relating to the survey of some temple at Athens. ÆтOMA, or ÆTOS. (Gr. AETOS.) A name given by the Greek architects to the tympanum of a pediment. It seems derived from the custom of decorating the apex or ridge of the roof with figures of eagles, and that the name thence first given to the ridge was afterwards transferred to the pediment itself. AGAMEDES. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 3. AGNOLO D', BACCIO. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 206. AGNOLO GABRIELLO. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 171. AGOSTINO and ANGELO, of Siena. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 131. AGRICOLA. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 59. AIR DRAINS, or DRY AREAS. Cavities between the external walls of a building protected by a wall towards the earth, which is thus prevented from lying against the said walls and creating damp. They may be made with the walls battering against the ground, and covered over with paving stones, or with their walls nearly perpendicular, and arched on the top; the bottoms should be paved, and they should be well ventilated. AIR HOLES. Holes made for admitting air to ventilate apartments, also for introducing it among the timbers of floors and roofs for the prevention or destruction of the dry rot. AIR TRAP. A trap immersed various ways in water to prevent foul air rising from sewers or drains. AJUTAGE. (Fr.). Part of the apparatus of an artificial fountain, being a sort of jet d'eau, or kind of tube fitted to the mouth or aperture of a vessel, through which the water is to be played, and by it determined into the form to be given to it. AISLE, or ALA. (Lat. Ala.) A term chiefly used by the English architect to signify the side subdivisions in a church, usually separated from the nave or centre division by pillars or columns; but among different nations, as applied to architecture, it bears different significations. We are told by Strabo that among the Egyptians the alæ of the temple were the two walls that enclosed the two sides of the pronaos, and of the same height as the temple itself. The walls, he observes, from above ground, were a little farther apart than the foundations of the temple, but as they rose, were built with an inclination to each other. We do not, however, clearly understand the passage, which puzzled Pocock as much as it has ourselves. The Greek alæ, called ptera, were the colonnades which surrounded the cell of the temple, the monopteros temple being the only species which had columns without a wall behind them. The peripteral had one tier of columns round the cell, the dipteral two, and the pseudo or false dipteral, invented by Hermogenes, was that in which the ala was single, but occupied the same space on the sides of the cell as the dipteral, though one of the tiers of columns was left out. Thus, by metaphor, the columns were called the alæ or wings of the temple. The term is also applied to the sides of a building which are subordinate to the principal and central division, and are vulgarly called wings. In Gothic as well as many modern churches the breadth is divided into three or five parts, by two or by four rows of pillars running parallel to the sides; and as one or other is the case, the church is said to be a three-aisled or five-aisled fabric. The middle aisle is called the nave or chief aisle, and the penthouse, which joins to each side of the main structure containing the aisles, is called a wing. In Great Britain no instance occurs of a five-aisled church, except a building at the west end of the cathedral at Durham. On the Continent there are many such buildings, among which is the cathedral at Milan. It is somewhat remarkable that in Westminster Abbey and in Redcliffe Church at Bristol the aisles are continued on each side of the transept, and in Salisbury Cathedral on one side only, a circumstance not met with in any other churches in this country. ALABASTER. A white semi-transparent variety of gypsum or sulphate of lime, a mineral of common occurrence, and used for various ornamental purposes. It was much used formerly for monuments in churches and the like. ALBARIUM OPUs. (Lat.) In ancient Roman architecture a term imagined by some to have been nothing more than a species of whitewash applied to walls, but, as we think, incorrectly. In the passage of the tenth chapter of the fifth book of Vitruvius, where he recommends the use of the albarium opus for the ceilings of baths, he allows tectorium opus as a substitute; so that we think it was a species of stucco. Its employment at the baths of Agrippa, knowing as we do the extent to which luxury was carried in the baths of the ancients, seems to prove it a superior sort of stucco, and it is by no means improbable that it was susceptible of a high polish. ALBERT. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 69. ALBERTI, ARISTOTELE. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 180. LEO BAPT. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 162. ALCOCK. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 169. ALCOVE. (Alcoba, Sp.; Elcant, Arab., a sleeping chamber.) That part of a sleeping chamber wherein the bed is placed. The use of alcoves, though not by that name, is ancient. They were frequently designed in the form of a niche; such, for instance, as those that Winkelman notices at Hadrian's villa at Tivoli, of which sort are some at Pompeii. They were often formed by enclosures or balustrades, of various heights, and by means of draperies the part was separated from the large chamber whereof it was a part. Some idea may be formed of it from many of the ancient bassi relievi, especially from the celebrated one known by the name of the Nozze Aldobrandini. In modern works this part of a room differs according to the rank and taste of the proprietor. In England it is rarely introduced, but in France and Italy it often forms a beautiful feature in the apartments of palaces. ALDER. (Ang. Sax. Ellarn. ) A tree belonging to the order Betulaceæ. See page 486. ALDRICH. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 268. ALDUN. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 79. ALEOTTI. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 253. ALESSI See ARCHITECTS, list of, 215. ALEATORIUM. In ancient Roman architecture, a room in which games at dice were played. ALEXANDER. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 90. ALGARDI. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 256. ALIPTERION. In ancient Roman architecture, a room used by the bathers for anointing themselves. They much ALKORANES. In Eastern architecture, high slender towers attached to mosques, and surrounded with balconies, in which the priests recite aloud at stated times prayers from the Koran, and announce the hours of devotion to worshippers. embellish the mosques, and are often very fantastical in form. ALLEY. (Fr. Allée.) An aisle, or any part of a church left open for access to another part. In towns, a passage narrower than a lane. A walk in a garden. ALMEHRAB. A niche in the mosques of the Mahometans which points towards the Kebla, or temple of Mecca, to which their religion directs them to bow their face in praying. ALMONRY. Properly a closet or repository for the reception of broken victuals set apart as alms for the poor, but more generally used to denote a house near the church in abbeys or their gates, provided with various offices for distributing the alms of the convent and for the dwelling of the almoner. ALMSHOUSE. A house devoted to the reception and support of the poor, generally endowed for a particular description of persons. ALOISIUS. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 56. ALTAR. (Lat. Altare.) A sort of pedestal whereon sacrifice was offered. According to Servius there was among the ancients a difference between the ara and altare, the latter being raised upon a substruction, and used only in the service of the celestial and superior divinities, whereas the former was merely on the ground, and appropriated to the service of the terrestrial gods. Altars to the infernal gods were made by excavation, and termed scrobiculi. Some authors have maintained that the ara was the altar before which prayers were uttered, and that the altare was used for sacrifices only. There is however from ancient authors no appearance of such distinctions, but that the words were used indiscriminately. The earliest altars were square polished stones, on which were placed the offerings to the gods. Whilst the sacrifice consisted only of libations, perfumes, and offerings of that nature, the altar was small, and even portable; when man, however, began to consider he was honouring the divinity by an offering of blood, the altar necessarily expanded in dimensions. Different forms of it were adopted, according to the nature of the sacrifice, and on it the throat of the victim was cut and the flesh burnt. Of this sort is the circular altar of the Villa Pamphili at Rome, one of the largest and most elegant of the class. On it appears the cavity for holding the fire, and the grooves for carrying off the blood. The varieties of altars were suitable in form, ornament, and situation to the service to which they were appropriated: some, as we have already observed, being for sacrifices of blood, others for receiving offerings and the sacred vessels; some for burning incense, others for receiving libations. Many were set up as mere monuments of the piety of a devotee, whilst others were raised to perpetuate some great event. They served for adjuration as well as for an asylum to the unfortunate and evil doer. In form they varied from square to oblong, and from triangular to circular. Those of metal were commonly tripodial. When of brick or stone their plan is generally square. According to Pausanius they were occasionally made of wood. They do not appear to have been of any regular standard height, for they are sometimes found on bassi relievi reaching but little above a man's knee, whereas in others they appear to reach his middle; but it seems that in proportion to its diameter the circular altar was generally the highest. Vitruvius says that they should not be so high as to intercept the statues of the gods, and he gives the relative heights of those used for different divinities. Thus, he says, those of Jupiter and the celestial gods are to be the highest; next, those of Vesta and the terrestrial gods; those of the sea gods are to be a little lower, and so on. On festivals they were decorated with such flowers and leaves as were sacred to the particular divinity. But besides this casual decoration, the ancient altars furnish us with some of the most elegant bassi rilievi and foliage ornaments that are known. According to Vitruvius, their fronts were directed towards the east, though very frequently but little regard was paid to their position, as they were occasionally placed under the peristyle of a temple, and not unfrequently in the open air. In the larger temples were often three different altars. The first was in the most sacred part, in front of the statue of the god; the second before the door of the temple; and the third (called ancalabris) was portable, and on it the offerings and sacred vessels were placed. The The altars of the Catholic church are either attached or isolated. The former generally stand against a wall, and are so decorated as to appear quite independent of it. The decorations are either of painting or sculpture, or both. The isolated altar has no sort of connection with any part either of the building or of its decorations. high altar is always isolated, whether placed at the end of the church or in its centre. Whatever the situation of the high altar, it should be grand and simple: it should be raised on a platform, with steps on every side. The table itself is usually in the form of an antique sarcophagus. The altar of the Protestant churches of England is generally only an oak table, covered with a white cloth, and but little ornamented either above or on the sides. In country churches we sometimes find superadded as an ornament, to show, we suppose, that painting may be tolerated in Protestant worship, the figures "Of Moses and Aaron stuck close by the wall, To hold the commandments for fear they should fall.” The fact is, the Church of England is so overawed by sectaries, that she is afraid of doing anything congenial to the feelings of a polished mind as respects the decoration of her churches, which are in the new examples built by the commissioners more than ever stript of all elegant accompaniments; a practice which turns our churches into barns rather than temples of the Most High. The altars of the Greek church, though in other respects the religion vies in splendour with the Romish church, are destitute of painted or sculptured ornament; and in Calvinistic churches the name as well as the uses of an altar are unknown either as an appendage or a decoration. ALTAR-PIECE. The entire decorations of an altar. ALTAR SCREEN. The back of an altar, or the partition by which the choir is separated from the presbytery and Lady chapel. The date of its introduction into English churches we believe to have been about the close of the thirteenth century. It is generally of stone, and composed of the richest tabernacle work, of niches, finials, and pedestals, supporting statues of the tutelary saints. Those to the high altars of Winchester Cathedral, of St. Alban's Abbey, and of New College, are fine examples. Many were destroyed at the Reformation, or filled up with plaster and covered with wainscot. In all altar screens a door is placed on each side for the officiating priests, whose vestments were deposited in an apartment behind the altar screen. ALTO RILIEVO. See RILIEVO. ALYPIUS. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 53. AMBITUS. A space which surrounded a tomb, and was held sacred. In descriptions of subterranean tombs, it denoted a small niche made in the wall for the reception of an urn or body. When the corpse was placed in it, to the mouth of the niche a slab was fixed, so fitted and cemented as to prevent noisome effluvia. The slabs were sometimes inscribed with the name and quality of the party. If they received an urn, either upon that or over the niche the inscription was placed. Much decoration was occasionally used in the recesses themselves. AMBO. (Gr. àμswv.) The elevated place or pulpit in the early Christian churches, which, according to Ciampini, fell into disuse about the beginning of the fourteenth century. The last erected ambo in Rome is supposed to have been that of S. Pancrazio, on which appears the date of 1249. It was an oblong enclosure, with steps usually at the two ends. Two ambones are described by Eustace in the cathedral at Salerno. They are placed on each side of the nave before the steps of the chancel. They are both of marble, and the largest is covered with mosaic and supported by twelve Corinthian granite columns. AMBULATORY. (Lat.) A sheltered place for exercise in walking; a cloister; a gallery. AMBULATIO. (Lat.) See PTEROMA. AMMANATI. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 239. AMPHIPROSTYLE. (Gr. audi, both or double, pо, before, σтuλos, a column.) A term applied to a temple having a portico or porch in the rear as well as in the front, but without columns at the sides. This species of temple never exceeded the use of four columns in the front and four in the rear. It differed from the temple in antis, in having columns instead of antæ at the angles of the portico. See Temple. AMPHITHEATRE. (Gr. aμpi, about, and fearpov, a theatre.) An edifice formed by the junction of two theatres at the proscenium, so as to have seats all round the periphery, a contrivance by which all the spectators, being ranged about on seats rising the one above the other, saw equally well what passed on the arena or space enclosed by the lowest range of seats, whose wall towards the arena was called the podium. The origin of the amphitheatre seems to have been among the Etruscans, to whom also are attributed the first exhibitions of gladiatorial fights. It was from this people that the Romans acquired a taste for such shows, which they communicated to every nation which became subject to their dominion. Athenæus says, "Romani ubi primum ludos facere cœperunt, huic asciti artifices ab Etruscis civitatibus fuerunt, sero autem ludi omnes qui nunc a Romanis celebrari solent sunt instituti." Lib. iv. c. 17. The most extraordinary edifice remaining in Rome, we may indeed say in the world, is the amphitheatre generally called the Coliseum. It was commenced by Vespatian, and completed by Titus his Words are inadequate to convey a satisfactory idea of its stupendous and gigantic dimensions. Ammianus says that it was painful to the eye to scan its summit: "ad cujus summitatem ægrè visio humana conscendit." Martial, in one of his epigrams, says, son. "Omnis Cæsareo cedat labor amphitheatro, The greater axis of the ellipsis on which it is planned is about 627 feet, and the lesser 520 feet, the height of the outer wall about 166 feet, such wall being decorated by the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian Orders, and pierced with arcades between the columns. Covering five English acres and a quarter, it had seats for 87,000 spectators with standing room for 22,000 others. It has suffered much from having been used actually as a quarry for many of the modern edifices of the city; but in the present day its preservation is strictly attended to by the papal government. A description of this building has been given in p. 94, et seq. Besides the Coliseum, there were three other amphitheatres in Rome: the Amphitheatrum Castrense, on the Esquiline, built probably by Tiberius; that of Statilius Taurus, and that built by Trajan in the Campus Martius. The other principal amphitheatres were those of Otricoli on the Garigliano, of brick; Puzzuoli, Capua, Verona, at the foot of Monte Casino, Pæstum, Syracuse, Agrigentum, Catanea, Argos, Corinth, Pola in Istria (see fig. 127.), Hipella in Spain, Nismes, Arles, Frejus, Saintes, and Autun. This last has four stories, in that respect like the Coliseum. That which remains in the most perfect condition is at Verona; its age has not been accurately determined, some placing it in the age of Augustus, and others in that of Maximian; of these, Maffei thinks the first date too early, and the latter too late. The silence of Pliny upon it seems to place it after the time of his writing. In the reign of Gallienus, it was not only built, but began to suffer from dilapidation, for many of the stones belonging to it are found in the walls of Verona, which walls were erected in the time of that emperor. Many of these were keystones, and the numbers cut upon them still remain. From the silence of authors that it was the work of any of the emperors, it seems probable that, like that at Capua, it was erected at the expense of the citizens. The length is about 514 feet, and the breadth about 410; the long diameter of the arena 242 feet, the short diameter 147 feet. The audience part or visorium contained forty-seven tiers of seats, and the building was capable of containing about 22,000 seated spectators. In the profile of the walls of this amphitheatre the diminution in thickness upwards is made on the inside, which is also the case in that at Pola. In the Coliseum, the diminution is on the outside. The amphitheatre at Nismes contained about 17,000 persons, and was about 400 feet in length and 320 feet in breadth. The first amphitheatres, as we learn from Pliny, were constructed of wood, and usually placed in the Campus Martius, or in some place out of the city. Accidents occurring from their insecurity, they were abandoned for the more substantial species of fabric whereof we have been speaking. The first person who is said to have erected an amphi theatre in Rome was Caius Scribonius Curio, on the occasion of the games he gave to the people at the funeral obsequies of his father. Determined to surpass all that had hitherto been seen, he constructed two theatres of wood, back to back, which, after the theatrical representations had been finished, were turned round with the spectators in them, leaving the stages and scenery behind. By their opposite junction, they formed a perfect amphitheatre, in which the people were gratified with a show of gladiators. The part in which the gladiators fought was called the arena, from being usually covered with sand to absorb the blood spilt in the conflicts, for which it was used. It was encompassed by a wall called the podium, fifteen or sixteen feet high, immediately round which sat the senators and ambassadors. As in the theatres, the seats rose at the back of each other; fourteen rows back from the podium all round being allotted to the equites, and the remainder to the public generally, who sat on the bare stone, cushions being provided for the senators and equites. Though at most times open to the sky, there were contrivances for covering the whole space with an awning. The avenues by which the people entered and retired were many in number, and were called vomitoria. The reader who wishes for further information on this subject may consult with advantage Maffei, Degli Amfiteatri, and the section on amphitheatres in his excellent and learned work, Verona illustrata. ANAMORPHOSIS. (Gr. ava, backward, and μoppŋ, form.) A term employed in perspective to denote a drawing executed in such a manner that when viewed in the common way it presents a confused and distorted image of the thing represented, or an image of something entirely different; but when viewed from a particular point, or as reflected by a curved mirror, or through a polyhedron, it recovers its proportions and presents a distinct representation of the object. ANCHOR. In decoration, an ornament shaped similarly to an anchor or arrow head. It is used with the egg ornament (see page 684. fig. 86.) to decorate or enrich mouldings. By some it is called a tongue, from its supposed resemblance to the forked tongue of a serpent. It is used in all the orders, but only applied to the moulding called the echinus or quarter round. ANCONES. (Gr. aуkov, the joint of the elbow.) The trusses or consoles sometimes employed in the dressings or antepagmenta of apertures, serving as an apparent support to the cornice of them at the flanks. In ancient doors the ancones were sometimes broader at the top than at the bottom, and were not in contact with the flanks of the architrave, but situated a small distance from them, the ancones being still further removed. The term is also used to signify the corners or quoins of walls, cross beams, or rafters. ANDREA DI PISA. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 130. ANDRON. (Gr. avnp.) In ancient architecture, the apartment appropriated to the reception of the male branches of the establishment, and always in the lower part of the house, the gynæcia, or women's apartments, being in the upper part. ANDRONICUS. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 23. ANDROUET DU CERCEAU. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 246. ANGLE. (Lat. Angulus.) The mutual inclination of two lines meeting in a point, called indifferently the angular point, vertex, or point of concourse: the two lines are called legs. See GEOMETRY, page 306. ANGLE BAR. In joinery, the upright bar at the angle of a polygonal window. ANGLE BEAD, or STAFF BEAD. A vertical bead, commonly of wood, fixed to an exterior angle and flush with the intended surface of the plaster on both sides, for the purpose of securing the angle against accident, serving also as a guide for floating the plaster. The section of these beads is about three quarters of a circle, with a projecting part from the other quarter, by means whereof they are made fast to the wood bricks, plugging, or bond timbers. Angle beads of wood round the intradosses of circular arches are difficult to bend without cutting or steaming them. The former has a very unsightly appearance, and the latter method is at once inconvenient and troublesome. The plaster itself is the best material in this case, and at the height generally placed will be out of the reach of accident. In good finishings corner beads which are unsightly should not be used, but the plaster should be well guaged and brought to an arris. ANGLE BRACE. In carpentry, a piece of timber fixed to the two extremities of a piece of quadrangular framing, making it partake of the form of an octagon. This piece is also called an angle tie and a diagonal tie. By the use of this piece wall plates are frequently braced. In constructing a well hole of a circular section through a roof or floor for a skylight, &c. the framing is first made in a quadrangular form; bices are then fixed opposite to each angle, and the aperture becomes an octagon; finally, pieces are fixed at each angle of the octagon, meeting each other in the middle of its sides, so as to transform the section of the aperture into a circle. ANGLE BRACKET. A bracket placed in the vertex of an angle, and not at right angles with the sides. See BRACKETING. ANGLE CAPITAL. In ancient Greek architecture, the Ionic capitals used to the flank |