say how far tawdry ornament may be used to displace the pure sublimity of perfect Architecture. Perhaps Architecture is too dignified to descend to any thing less than an entire exterior, or a very extensive interior, as a church, hall, or some such design, while ornamental diathesis, and the diathesis of colour are more the province of the upholsterer and painter in the drawing-room, and saloon. 71. The principal cases of an exterior display of the diathesis of colour are in private houses, combining brick and stone, or black timbers, and white plaster. END OF THE SIXTH ESSAY. L 146 ESSAY VII. DISTRIBUTION, OR THE OIKONOMIA OF VITRUVIUS. Quid faciam præscribe. HOR. Sat. I. Lib. II. v. 5. Of the order, in which the terms occur in the ana truvius. 1. As Vitruvius, from the little knowledge of the ancient principles of Architecture, and from the jealousy with which the Greeks of his day concealed, lysis of Vi- what little they did know, endeavouring to involve the whole science of Architecture in mystery, could but give to his cotemporaries, a very vague tradition of what could be collected of the analysis of composition, it is not to be wondered, that he should not only not give an intelligible explanation, but that he should not arrange the heads in that order, in which, when understood, they seem naturally to follow each other. The inverting the order of diathesis and proportion was noticed in the 6th section of the essay on diathesis. On examining Vitruvius on the subject of this essay, we shall find he introduces decor before distributio; in the sense, however, which I have here presumed to give it, this would not be convenient, and as decor involves the consideration of cha racter, and therefore depends on the full force, and illustration of every other excellence, it is obvious, it should come last. here as distributio and dia thesis ne cessary to the art. 2. Reasons founded upon Architecture itself for The sense assigning to dispositio and distributio the meaning signed to here assigned them, are given in the beginning of the last essay, and it must be confessed, that to an amateur of controversy, this is a very good subject for argument, and to assign either to distributio or dispositio each other's meaning; the arguments on neither side would, however, be very conclusive; and as the present mode of analysis clears up an acknow. ledged obscurity, and as no argument can be brought against it, except such as might as well be brought to prove (what has been actually done,) that some of the terms in the Vitruvian analysis mean the same thing, which is almost as much as saying, that the ancient Greeks did not understand the art, (which is absurd,) we may, I think, safely accommodate ourselves with the use of these convenient terms in the sense, and order here assigned them. defined. 3. The sense assigned to distributio, and for which, Distributio as we shall presently see, there is some authority in Vitruvius, is alluded to in the second section of the preceding essay. The art of distribution is in fact, the art of arranging two or more of the same or different styles in the forms, that will best promote variety in general effect, without opposing the other excellencies. The "loci 4. It must be admitted, that the general acceptation of the word economy, looks much further than dispensathis, it relates, as Vitruvius describes distributio, to tio" of Vitruvius. |