892 PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE. i3ooK III.

breadth of the pier equal to the opening. By dividing the latter into twelve jiaits we
have a measure which seems to have prevailed in the mind of the architect, inasmuch as
two of them will measure the parts of the pier supporting the archivolts, four the space
for the two columns, two for the intervals between the niche and the columns, and four for
the niche. Half the diameter of the arch measures tlie heiglit of the pedestal
;
the columns
are of the height of ten diameters, and their entablature one quarter of the height of the
columns. The impost and archivolt are each equal to half a diameter of the column.
26r^9. Fiq. 911. is an example whose employment is not uncommon in the designs of
Palladio, and was considered by our great countryman Inigo Jones to be worthy of his
imitation. The arch may be taken at about twice its width, and the pier not less than
one nor more than two thirds of the width of the aperture.
FiR. 912. Fig. 913.
2640. The example in
fig.
912. is from the hand of Vignola, and was executed for one
>f the Borghese family at Mondragone, near Frascati. In it the arch is a little more
n height than twice its width, and the breadth of the pier columns supporting the arcli
ncludes a little less than the width of the arch itself. We are not quite satisfied in having
lere produced it as an example, though, compared with the following one, we scarcLly
inow whether we should not on some accounts prefer it.
2641, The last, example
{fig-
913.)
is one by that great master, Palladio, from the basilica
it Vicenza. From the figure it is impossible to judge of its beauty in execution, neither
;an any imitation of it, unless under circumstances in every respect similar, produce the
sensation with which the building itself acts on the spectator; yet in the figure it appears
Tieagre and nothing worth. We can therefore easily account for the conduct of the critics, as
;hey are called, who, never having seen this master's works, indulge in ignorant speculations
jf the pictorial effects which his compositions produce. Though not entirely agreeing
ivith Chambers in his concluding observations on arcades and arches, we may safely
;ransfer them to these pages.
"
The most beautiful proportion," he observes,
"
for com-
sositions of tliis kind is, that the ajierture of the arcli be in height twice its width
; that
;he breadth of the pier do not exceed that of the arch, nor be much less
;
that the small
jrder be in lieight two thirds of the large columns, which height being divided into nine
)arts, eight of them must be for the height of the column, and tlie ninth for the height of
;he architrave cornice, two fifths of wliich should be for the arcliitrave and three for tho
:ornice. The breadth of the archivolt should be equal to the superior diameter of the
imall columns, and the keystone at its bottom must never exceed the same breadth."
Sect. XI.
OPvDEKS ABOVE ORDERS.
''642.
Vltruvius, in the fifth chapter of his book
"
On the Forum and Basilica," in both
which species of buildings it is well known that orders above orders were employed, thus
instructs his readers:

" The upper columns are to be made one fourth less tlian those
oelow" {quarta parte mhiores quam inferiores sunt cmistitiienda:),
"
and that because the latter,
jeing loaded with a weight, ought to be the stronger
;
because, also, we should follow the
practice of nature, which in straight-growing trees, like the fir, cypress, and pine, makes
:he thickness at the root greater than it is at top, and jjreserves a gradual dimiiuition
diroughout their height. Thus, following the example of nature, it is riglitly ordered that
Dodies which are uppermost should be less than those below, both in respect of height and
;hicknebs." It is curious that the law thus given produces an exactly similar result to that