art.

Monument of Lysicrates.

city in Italy, were all magnificent specimens of But they are now almost entirely destroyed. The remains of Pæstum, show conclusively that it was once a splendid city, where the arts were highly cultivated. Now, it presents nothing but magnificent ruins, which

stand between the mountains and the sea, Awful memorials, but of whom we know not."

Toward the year 930, Pæstum was sacked by the Saracens, and partially destroyed; but its final almost entire demolition did not take place till nearly two centuries after, when Robert Guiscard, one of the stern crusaders, razed many beautiful temples to the earth, and conveyed the fragments of splendid verd-antique columns to Salerno, to serve toward the construction of a church.

The walls of Pæstum enclose a great quantity of ruins, but the chief are three temples of various sizes. They are of the Doric order, varying from that of the Parthenon; and the smaller one is different from all other temples ever known, in having nine columns in front. They are supposed to be coeval with the Parthenon in their erection, perhaps somewhat earlier.

The Etruscans, a very ancient people of antiquity, occupying the country in Italy known as Tuscany, are thought to have cultivated architecture with the same taste and success, as they did the other arts of design. Their earlier temples were small in size, often no larger than suf ficient to contain the statue intended to be worshipped, and sometimes an altar. The Etruscans were a colony from Greece, and it is supposed they cultivated the arts before Cadmus entered that country. The sacred architecture of the Romans is said to have been derived from the Etruscans; and it is well known that they were employed in building the capitol, and the temples of Jupiter, Janus, &c. But before leaving the subject of Grecian architecture, we will briefly notice the use of human figures instead of columns for the support of an entablature, as has been frequently observed. These are usually

talled Caryatides, one of which is represented in the annexed cut. We will give Vitruvius's account of their origin. "Carya, a city of Peloponessus, took part with the Persians against the Grecian states. When the country was freed from its invaders, the Greeks turned their arms against the Caryans, and upon the capture of the city, put the males to the sword, and led the women into captivity. The architects of that time, for the purpose of perpetuating the ignominy of this people, instead of columns in the porticos of their buildings, substituted statues of these women, faithfully copying their ornaments and the drapery with which they were attired, the mode of which they were not permitted to change."

Caryatide.

Modern writers dissent from this opinion of Vitruvius respecting the origin of this use of the human figure, on the ground that no Greek historians mention this fact, and that animals were used for the same purpose a long time previous to the period in question. Mr. Gwilt, an ingenious writer, remarks, that in the Grecian mythology we have a story of a nymph named Carya, who was changed by Bacchus into a nut tree, and her sisters into stones, and that they were worshipped under the name of Caryatis.

The figures of these were employed as columns in the temple of Diana, and being used there they were undoubtedly adopted in other buildings.

The cenotaphs or tombs of the ancients, were splendidly ornamented, and often presented animals and human figures, performing the same office as that of the Caryatides. In another part of this work we have given a description of the tomb of king Mausolus, which may be considered a good specimen of the most splendid of these ancient sepulchres. Our engraving represents a cenotaph erected to the memory of one of the Roman emperors. In this case, the orna

ments consist of heads, supported by wreaths of flowers. Speaking of the use of wreaths, Mr. Kempe observes :- "Garlands were so much used by the ancients at their sacrificial and social feasts, that as the patines for libation, and the sculls of victims, from being at first suspended on the friezes of their temples, became at last sculptured on them in stone, so were the vegetable wreaths transferred in the same manner.'

CHAPTER IV.

Roman Architecture--Its profuse Ornaments-Tuscan and Composite Orders-Oval Columns-The Pantheon-Temple of Concord-Triumphal Arches-Arch of Constantine-Columns-Architecture of the middle Ages--Church of the Apostles at Florence-Decadence and Revival of the Art-Church of St. Miniate-Cimabue-St. Peter's Church at Rome-Departure from classic Rules-Saxon Architecture-Round and pointed Arches-English decorative Style-Florid StyleSaracenic and Gothic Architecture-Origin of the LatterJones and Wren-Spire of Bow-Decline of Architecture During the Commonwealth-British monumental Architecture-Stonehenge--Rocking Stones-The round Towers of Ireland-Architectural Remains of Central America-Palenque--Mexico-Pyramids-Architecture of United States.

THE pure architecture of Greece is undoubtedly superior to that of every other nation. Her artists adhered rigidly to rules and principles, and never violated good taste by infringing upon simplicity. The Romans were the reverse of this. They were not only copyists of the Greeks, but they laid a profusion of ornaments upon every thing they touched, in a fantastic variety of forms. Their buildings possessed splendor, and exhibit