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  • March 7, 1863
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  • ON THE ARCH AND ARCADES.
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, March 7, 1863: Page 6

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On The Arch And Arcades.

period of Roman history , composed of excellent masonry , and a perfectly well-constructed semicircular arch has been exposed to vieAv . The antiquaries of Rome regard with confidence this arch as the Avork of S . Tullius , 578 B . C . The Cloaca Maxima , whose arched entrance into the Tiber is familiar to most who have visited Rome , is by common consent pointed to as the work of Ancus

Martins , 610 B . C . ; and this is a semicircular arch turned with excellently cut stone voussoirs . It is , therefore , impossible to deny the extreme antiquity of the arch , but what we may feel justified in saying , is , that it is an invention of slow growth ; i . e . one of Avhich the advantages aud wide application were not at once and generally appreciatednor Avere the aesthetic and

con-, structive merits of the form marked by any very early recognition . That the Greeks did not use the arch is a pretty generally admitted fact ; the absence of any indication of ifc in any remains of pure Greek work , is sufficiently strong negative evidence ; and the stratagems that we find the builders of that period resorting to in order to overcome difficulties which the arch at once

effectually overcomes afford strong collateral proof . I would call attention , for instance , to the construction of masonry over an opening at one end of the Temple of Concord at Agrigentum , in Sicily . The courses sail over on either side of the opening , vrith a view to diminish the bearing of its straight , flat lintel , whilst the ordinary relieA * ing-arch Avould have ansAvered tho purpose so much

more effectually . However , it is certain thafc , whatever may have been the cause , Avhether ignorance or the force of habit , for a very long time indeed the value of the arch ivas not duly appreciated . Nor , ] 3 erhaps , have we any right to taunt the builders of antiquity Avith the slowness of their apprehension . Even in our own age of science aud civilization , and Avith all our modern means of interchange of kiiOAvledge , a hundred years or more passed

between the first discovery of the mechanical power of steam and the full recognition of its utility . We may regard it , I think , as pretty Avell agreed , thafc architecture had not appropriated the arch as one of her important features until two or three hundred years before the Christian era . We find it in familiar use during the existence of the Roman republic ; and , AA'hen

once generally adopted , one of the most ; complete revolutions in the whole history of our art was effected . The whole character of Roman architecture under the Emperors seems influenced by the arch . The great Avorks of the Pantheon , the Colosseum , and indeed nearly all the great monuments of that age OAve much of their character to this system of construction . Ifc is probable that not

sesahefcic considerations alone , but motives of a practical nature , may have had much influence in favouring the use of the arch . The transport of large , heavy blocks must have at all times taxed the mechanical ingenuity as well as the pecuniary resources of builders . Even afc the present day the cost of a stone increases with its size in a compound ratio -, hoAV much more so must this have

been the case in the early times of Avhich Ave are treating , when roads and canals scarcely existed ? "We may then well understand that a system of construction which not only admitted of , bufc which almost demanded , the use of stones of moderate size , was peculiarly welcome to the builder , and invited his adoption . How rejoiced , too , must have been the architectto resort to a mode of

con-, struction by Avhich not only cost , but time , was saved , and his boldest designs , his grandest ideas , migh be realised hi the least possible time . He had no longer to drag , perhaps from a remote distance , his cumbrous blocks of many tons weight , over a trackless country , and then to rear them , tediously and expensively , by the agency of a multitude of labourers . The nearest quarry would HOAV

probably be such as to furnish him with stones quite large enough where > vith to turn his arches , however gigantic their span . JTor was he any longer compelled to select exclusively

the hardest and strongest stones for his building : the pressure of weight upon the wedge-shaped voussoirs of an arch is to be measured by the crushing power of thafc Aveight , Avhereas the effect of the same weight bearing perpendicularly on a horizontal beam of stone would be much more effectual in fracturing and destroying ifc . We see , too , how speedily the Roman builders foun

that an arch specially favoured the use of bricks . Tha more ancient types of temple architecture seem almost necessarily to exclude , in great measure , the use of bricks : whereas an arcuated construction Avas carried out in every way more advantageously Avith bricks than with stones . We may considerthereforethat it is to the read

, , y applicability of bricks to arch building , thafc we owe the existence of the stupendous Colosseum , the Temple of Peace , and others of Rome ' s proudest monuments . I may here remark the fact that all the great' distinctions of style in our art are traceable , not so much to the ' genius of the designers as to the circumstances of the

time and the place . How differently would the Egyptians have built had they not had granite and stone quarries available ! How different an expression would have distinguished Greek art had Greece been an alluvial country affording bricks only instead of stone and marble ! How differently Avould the Romans have built had they been acquainted

Avith the economic uses of wrought and cast iron ! Were I disposed to encourage the search after a new style ( a search Avhich I am very far indeed from encouraging you to prosecute ) , I Avould say to you , seek it- in the application of some material , or in the invention of some new system of construction ; for truly ifc is iu our own art as it is in the fabric of the human bod the

y ; general aspect of every animal depends for its varieties of form far more on the structure of the skeleton than on the superficial integuments with which its exterior is clothed . I revert now to the state of our art , when the arch had acquired that influence which ifc never afterwards ceased

to exercise . I suppose that we may regard the Tabularium , on the Capitoline Hill , as the earliest , Avell authenticated , example of a regular arcade . An inscription exists to this day Avhich tells us that ifc was builfc by Q . - Luctatius Catulus , who Avas consul , A . TJ . C . 676 , a hundred years therefore before onr era .

After this date examples become much more frequent . I believe I am justified in saying that the earliest surviving example of the superposition of one arcade upon another is the Theatre of Marcellus , builfc by Augustus . There was but a step between this system of construction and that Avhich Avas perfected in that stupendous pile , the Colosseum .

I have , in a lecture which I had the honour to deliver last year , pointed out the deep and durable effect on architectural design thafc must have been produced on all subsequent time by thafc marvel of art . When Ave remember that this building was the great centre of attraction in the pleasure-loving capital of the world ; the eager resort of a countless populationwhose was ever

, cry " Panem et circenses ! " such a building would almost necessarily be the object , first , of admiration , and then of imitation . Hence we find the arcaded corridors of the Colosseum repeated in various parts of the wide spread Roman empire , thus exercising a powerful influence on the architecture of the whole civilised world . The accomplished artists of Rome were not slow to perceive that ,

besides tho opportunities for rich ornamentation which this union of the arched and columnar principle afforded , and the pleasing variety of effect obtained by this combination of straight and curved forms , there were practical benefits resulting from ifc ; the far wider span that could be given to the arches than it would be possible to give to an intercolumination , was an important advantage in a great public building resorted to by the teeming

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1863-03-07, Page 6” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 5 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_07031863/page/6/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND THE CRAFT. Article 1
GRAND LODGE. Article 1
SCOTLAND. Article 2
ON THE ARCH AND ARCADES. Article 5
Untitled Article 8
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 9
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 10
THE BOYS' SCHOOL. Article 11
THE BOARD OF BENEVOLENCE. Article 11
NEW MASONIC HALL FOR MANCHESTER. Article 11
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 12
GRAND LODGE. Article 12
METROPOLITAN. Article 13
PROVINCIAL. Article 14
CHINA. Article 16
ROYAL ARCH. Article 16
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. Article 16
Untitled Article 16
Poetry. Article 17
NOT LOST. Article 17
THE WEEK. Article 18
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

On The Arch And Arcades.

period of Roman history , composed of excellent masonry , and a perfectly well-constructed semicircular arch has been exposed to vieAv . The antiquaries of Rome regard with confidence this arch as the Avork of S . Tullius , 578 B . C . The Cloaca Maxima , whose arched entrance into the Tiber is familiar to most who have visited Rome , is by common consent pointed to as the work of Ancus

Martins , 610 B . C . ; and this is a semicircular arch turned with excellently cut stone voussoirs . It is , therefore , impossible to deny the extreme antiquity of the arch , but what we may feel justified in saying , is , that it is an invention of slow growth ; i . e . one of Avhich the advantages aud wide application were not at once and generally appreciatednor Avere the aesthetic and

con-, structive merits of the form marked by any very early recognition . That the Greeks did not use the arch is a pretty generally admitted fact ; the absence of any indication of ifc in any remains of pure Greek work , is sufficiently strong negative evidence ; and the stratagems that we find the builders of that period resorting to in order to overcome difficulties which the arch at once

effectually overcomes afford strong collateral proof . I would call attention , for instance , to the construction of masonry over an opening at one end of the Temple of Concord at Agrigentum , in Sicily . The courses sail over on either side of the opening , vrith a view to diminish the bearing of its straight , flat lintel , whilst the ordinary relieA * ing-arch Avould have ansAvered tho purpose so much

more effectually . However , it is certain thafc , whatever may have been the cause , Avhether ignorance or the force of habit , for a very long time indeed the value of the arch ivas not duly appreciated . Nor , ] 3 erhaps , have we any right to taunt the builders of antiquity Avith the slowness of their apprehension . Even in our own age of science aud civilization , and Avith all our modern means of interchange of kiiOAvledge , a hundred years or more passed

between the first discovery of the mechanical power of steam and the full recognition of its utility . We may regard it , I think , as pretty Avell agreed , thafc architecture had not appropriated the arch as one of her important features until two or three hundred years before the Christian era . We find it in familiar use during the existence of the Roman republic ; and , AA'hen

once generally adopted , one of the most ; complete revolutions in the whole history of our art was effected . The whole character of Roman architecture under the Emperors seems influenced by the arch . The great Avorks of the Pantheon , the Colosseum , and indeed nearly all the great monuments of that age OAve much of their character to this system of construction . Ifc is probable that not

sesahefcic considerations alone , but motives of a practical nature , may have had much influence in favouring the use of the arch . The transport of large , heavy blocks must have at all times taxed the mechanical ingenuity as well as the pecuniary resources of builders . Even afc the present day the cost of a stone increases with its size in a compound ratio -, hoAV much more so must this have

been the case in the early times of Avhich Ave are treating , when roads and canals scarcely existed ? "We may then well understand that a system of construction which not only admitted of , bufc which almost demanded , the use of stones of moderate size , was peculiarly welcome to the builder , and invited his adoption . How rejoiced , too , must have been the architectto resort to a mode of

con-, struction by Avhich not only cost , but time , was saved , and his boldest designs , his grandest ideas , migh be realised hi the least possible time . He had no longer to drag , perhaps from a remote distance , his cumbrous blocks of many tons weight , over a trackless country , and then to rear them , tediously and expensively , by the agency of a multitude of labourers . The nearest quarry would HOAV

probably be such as to furnish him with stones quite large enough where > vith to turn his arches , however gigantic their span . JTor was he any longer compelled to select exclusively

the hardest and strongest stones for his building : the pressure of weight upon the wedge-shaped voussoirs of an arch is to be measured by the crushing power of thafc Aveight , Avhereas the effect of the same weight bearing perpendicularly on a horizontal beam of stone would be much more effectual in fracturing and destroying ifc . We see , too , how speedily the Roman builders foun

that an arch specially favoured the use of bricks . Tha more ancient types of temple architecture seem almost necessarily to exclude , in great measure , the use of bricks : whereas an arcuated construction Avas carried out in every way more advantageously Avith bricks than with stones . We may considerthereforethat it is to the read

, , y applicability of bricks to arch building , thafc we owe the existence of the stupendous Colosseum , the Temple of Peace , and others of Rome ' s proudest monuments . I may here remark the fact that all the great' distinctions of style in our art are traceable , not so much to the ' genius of the designers as to the circumstances of the

time and the place . How differently would the Egyptians have built had they not had granite and stone quarries available ! How different an expression would have distinguished Greek art had Greece been an alluvial country affording bricks only instead of stone and marble ! How differently Avould the Romans have built had they been acquainted

Avith the economic uses of wrought and cast iron ! Were I disposed to encourage the search after a new style ( a search Avhich I am very far indeed from encouraging you to prosecute ) , I Avould say to you , seek it- in the application of some material , or in the invention of some new system of construction ; for truly ifc is iu our own art as it is in the fabric of the human bod the

y ; general aspect of every animal depends for its varieties of form far more on the structure of the skeleton than on the superficial integuments with which its exterior is clothed . I revert now to the state of our art , when the arch had acquired that influence which ifc never afterwards ceased

to exercise . I suppose that we may regard the Tabularium , on the Capitoline Hill , as the earliest , Avell authenticated , example of a regular arcade . An inscription exists to this day Avhich tells us that ifc was builfc by Q . - Luctatius Catulus , who Avas consul , A . TJ . C . 676 , a hundred years therefore before onr era .

After this date examples become much more frequent . I believe I am justified in saying that the earliest surviving example of the superposition of one arcade upon another is the Theatre of Marcellus , builfc by Augustus . There was but a step between this system of construction and that Avhich Avas perfected in that stupendous pile , the Colosseum .

I have , in a lecture which I had the honour to deliver last year , pointed out the deep and durable effect on architectural design thafc must have been produced on all subsequent time by thafc marvel of art . When Ave remember that this building was the great centre of attraction in the pleasure-loving capital of the world ; the eager resort of a countless populationwhose was ever

, cry " Panem et circenses ! " such a building would almost necessarily be the object , first , of admiration , and then of imitation . Hence we find the arcaded corridors of the Colosseum repeated in various parts of the wide spread Roman empire , thus exercising a powerful influence on the architecture of the whole civilised world . The accomplished artists of Rome were not slow to perceive that ,

besides tho opportunities for rich ornamentation which this union of the arched and columnar principle afforded , and the pleasing variety of effect obtained by this combination of straight and curved forms , there were practical benefits resulting from ifc ; the far wider span that could be given to the arches than it would be possible to give to an intercolumination , was an important advantage in a great public building resorted to by the teeming

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