902

PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTUIIE. Book III.

'26SI. Neither should columns be allo\yed to penetrate each other, as they do in the
TOurt of the Louvre, inasmuch as the same irregularity is induced by it as we have above
.loticed in the case of pilasters.
Sect. XV.
CAKVATIDES AND PEHSIANS.
C(>82.
The origin of taryatides we have in the First Book
(165, etseq.") so far as regarns
o\ir own opinions, explained, and in that res])ect we shall not trouble the reader. Our object
ill this section is merely to oft'er some observations on the use of them in modern practice.
The figures
denominated Persians, Atlantes, and the like, are in the same category, and we
shall not therefore stop to inquire into their respective merits
;
indeed, that has already been
sufficiently
done in the book above alluded to. The writer of the article in the En-
cyclopedie
Met/iodiqiie has, we think, thrown away a vast deal of elegant writing on the sub-
ject of caryatides
;
and using, as we have done, to some extent, that extraordinary work,
M-e think it necessary to say that we cannot recommend anything belonging to that article
to the notice of the reader, except what is contained in the latter part of it, and with that
we do not altogether agree.
2683. The object, or apparent object, in the use of caryatides is for the purpose of support.
There is no case in which this cannot be better accomplished by a solid support, such as a
column, the use of the attic order, or some other ecjuivalent means. But the variety in
fjuest of which the eye is always in search, and the picturesque effect which may be in-
(luced by the emjjloyment of caryatides, leads often to their necessary employment. The
))lain truth is, that they are admissible only as objects necessary for an extreme degree of
decoration, and otherwise employed are not to be tolerated. There can, as we imagine,
be no doubt that the most successful application of these figures as supports was by Jean
Gougeon in the Louvre; as was the most unfortunate in the use of them in a church
in the New Road, which at the time of its erection was much lauded, but which we hope
will never be imitated by any British architect.
2G84. As to the use of what are called Persians or male figures, originally in Persian
(h esses, to designate, as Vitruvius tells us, the victory over their country by the Greeks, the
observations above made equally apply, and in the present day their application will not
bear a moment's suspense in consideration.
2685. We have been much amused with the gravity wherewith Sir William Chambers,
n jt with his usual sound sense, treats the claims of the personages whose merits we are dis-
cussing ; he says,
"
Male figures may be introduced with propriety in arsenals or galleries of
armour, in guard-rooms and other military places, where they should
represent the figure^
of captives, or else of martial virtues
;
such as strength, valour, wisdom,
prudence, fortitude,
and the like." He writes more like himself when he says,
"
There are few nobler thoughts
in the remains of antiquity than Inigo Jones's court" (in the design for the great palace at
Whitehall),
"
the effect of which, if properly executed, would have been surprising and
great in the highest degree." {See
Jig. 207.)
2686. What is called a terminus, which is, in fact, nothing more than a portion of an
inverted obelisk, we shall not observe upon further than to say that it is a form, as applied
to architecture, held in abhorrence. For the purpose, when detached and isolated, of sup-
porting busts in gardens, it may perhaps be occasionally tolerated : further we have no-
thiiig
to say in its favour. Those who seek for additional instruction
on what are called
termini, may find some account of them, as the boundary posts of land among the Romans,
in books relating to the antiquities of that people.
2687. We shall now proceed to submit some examples of caryatides for the use of those
whose designs
require their emi)loyment.
Fiff.
926. is from a model of IMichael Angelo