956 PRACTICE OF AllCHITECTURE.

Book III
In proportioning the arcliitravp, iVicze, and cornice, care must be taken that no
more
is laid upon the columns than their own bulk : when the latter are one diameter
apart,
this quantity will be greater in height than when they are further distant; so that
the greater the intercolumnlation, the lighter in appearance will be the entablature,
the
columns still bearing the same weight, nor need they be incieased after it is
ascertained
that they are competent to their duty : to do so would be to employ material in excess
ivhich it should be the aim of an architect to avoid.
If we now examine the portico of the Pantheon, we cannot fail to perceive the
agreement
existing between the parts supported and their supports.
The mean diameter of the columns is
- - .
_
Their height, including capital and base
-
- - .
The solid content of each - . . . .
.
Consequently the cube of the whole 8 is
-
The mean width of the architrave and frieze is
- . .
Their height ----...
The solid contents of the entire length, 110 feet, is
-
The mean width of the cornice is 7 feet, length 114 feet, height 3-6
feet,"
and its cubical contents
ft. in.
-
4
7
-
46 5
76.5 106
6027
ft. in.
-
4 3
-
6
8-3
3125
11
2793
The solid content of entablature 5918 11
which leaves little more than 100 cubical feet of difference between one and the other
j
and if the crown moulding returned on the flank be comprised, the quantity contained
in
the entablature would equal that of the eight columns.
The pediment Is omitted altogether in tills calculation, it being in reality, though
not
in appearance, an additional load for the eight columns beyond their regular entablature,
which is of marble, and weighs probably 452 tons
; the granite columns with their
marble
bases and capitals are something more than that qnantity, and these, including the entabla-
ture and pediment, probably contain upwards of 1000 tons of material.
The Capitals
of the Caliimns
nffhe Pa7ithenii ure admitted to rank among the best examples
found In Home
:
though not so highly and elaborately worked as those which decorate the
columns of the temple of CJuplter Stator) the Dioscuri, yet they are remarkable for the
CAI-ITALS OF THK PANTHEON.