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The Capital.

The Pilaster Panel. 213


12. Romanesque Cushion-capital, monastery, Lippoldsberg.
1314. Late Gothic, triforium of the choir, minster Freiburg.
Plate 130. The Capital.
1. Renascence, drawing by Holbein, (Guichard).
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3. Renascence, designs by Heinrich Voigtherr, (Hirth).
4. Composite, Italian.
5. Renascence, Palazzo Scrofa, Ferrara, Italian,
6. Renascence, Tomb in Sta. Maria del Popolo, Rome, by San-
sovino.
7. Renascence, Italian, Palazzo Zorzi, Venice.
8. Modern, municipal baths, Carlsruhe, Architect Durm.
9. Modern French, Vaudeville theatre, Paris, Architect Magne.
The Pilaster Panel. (Plate 131.)
In many cases the Pilaster or wall-pier shaft' is devoid of orna-
ment. Unlike the column, the Pilaster does not, as a rule, taper up-
wards; and if the Pilaster is ornamented with fluting the tapering
is never permissible. The Pilaster frequently has cinctures, generally
two, the lower at
^/g,
the upper at
^/s
of its height.- The ornamental
decoration, when present, takes the form of an elongated, sunk panel
bordered by a moulding. The ornamentation may be of three kinds:
firstly: an ascending plant motive may be used, rising symmetrically
or in the form of a wavy Hne from calices, vases, &c., animal and
human figures being not infrequent accessories; secondly, the decora-
tion may consist of festoons of flowers, fruits, trophies, shields, &c.,
varied by knots and ribbons, the points of suspension being rosettes,
rings, lion heads, &c.; thirdly, the panel may be decorated with flat
strapwork, as in the Elizabethan manner.
Of these three kinds of decoration the first is the most used;
and the most suitable. Few Antique examples have come down to
us; the Middle Ages make scarcely any use of the Pilaster; but
the Renascence is much richer in such examples. Stalls, Altars,
Sepulchral - monuments are scarcely to be found without Pilasters.
Plate 131 ofi^ers a small selection from the copious material; all the
panels show the first of the three kinds of decoration.
Plate 131. The Phi-aster Panel.
1. Italian Renascence.
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5. Italian Renascence, Sta. Maria del Miracoli, Venice.
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7. Italian Renascence, by Benedetto da Majano.
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9. Modern Panels, in the style of the Italian Renascence.

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