Vitruvius observes, that the Greeks never used mutules, modillions, or den tils, in the front, in which the end of the roof, oe fastigium appears, because that the ends of the 4fters and the ends of the laths which support the tiles only ap pear at the eaves of the building. Now, as mutttles and dentils originated from the projecting ends of the rafters and laths, following the course of nature, it would have been absurd to introduce them into the pediment.
However just this reasoning appears, we fincl, from the remains of Grecian an tiquity, this assertion only verified in the inclined cornices of the pediment : for mutules are constantly employed in the horizontal cornice ; but neither mutules, modillions, nor (lentils, on the sloping sides : at least, when any of the edifices in Greece appear with those innovations, they are introduced during the time it was a province of the Roman empire. Of this practice at Rome, the Pantheon and the frontispiece of Nero are examples of modillions ; and the temple of Fortune one where dentils are used. In the in clined cornices of pediments the sides of the modillions and dentils are planes, per pendicular to the horizon and to the front of the edifice ; and in the same vertical planes with those of the modillions or dentils of the horizontal cornice.
Balustrade'. A balustrade • is a range of small columns, called balusters, sup porting a cornice, used as a parapet, or as a screen to conceal the whole or a part of the roof: it is also some times used as a decoration for termi nating the building. Balustrades arc em ployed in parapets on the margins of stairs, or before uinclows, or to inclose terraces or other elevated places of resort, or on the sides of the passage way of bridges. It is remarkable, that there are no remains of balusters to be seen in any ancient building. In the theatres and am phitheatres of the Romans, the pedestals of the upper orders were always continu ed through the arcades, to serve as a pa rapet for the spectators to lean over. The lowermost seats next to the arena in the ampitheatres, and those next to the or chestra in the theatres were guarded by a parapet, or podium The walls of an cient buildings genemlly terminated ith the cornice itself, or iA ith a block,ng course, or with an Attic. in the monu ment of Lysicrates at Athens, which is a small beautiful building, the top is finish. ed 1,vith fynials, composed of honeysuc kles, solid behind, and open between each pair of fimials : each plant or fi nial is bordered with a curved head., and the :lot tom of each interval with an inverted curve. Perhaps terminations of this na ture might have been employed in many other Grecian buildings, as some coins seem to indicate ; but this is the only ex isting example of the kind, The temples in Greece are mostly finished midi the cornice itself. This was also the case with many of the Roman temples; but as there are no remains of balustrades in ancient buildings, their antiquity may be doubted : they are, however, represented in the works of the earliest Italian wri ters, who perhaps may have seen them in the ruins of Roman edifices. When a balustrade finishes a building, and crowns an order, its height should be proportion ed to the architecture it accompanies, making it never more than four-fifths, nor less than two-thirds, of the height of the order, without reckoning the zocholo, or plinth, on which it is raised, as the balus trade itself should be completely seen at a proper point of view. Balustrades that
are designed for use should always be of the height of parapet walls, as they an swer the same purpose, being nothing else than an ornamental parapet This height should not exceed three feet and a half, nor be less than three feet. In the balusters, the plinth of the base, the most prominent part of the swell, and the aha cus of their capital, are generally in the same straight line ; their distance should not exceed half the breadth of the abacus or plinths, nor be less than one-third of this measure. On stairs or inclined planes the same proportions are to be observed as on horizontal ones. It was formerly customary to make the mouldings ofithe balusters follow the inclination of the plane ; but this is difficult to execitte, and, when done, not very pleasant to the eye : though in ornamental iron-work, where it is confined to a general surface, passing perpendicularly by the ends of the steps, it has a very handsome appearance. The breadth of pedestals, when placed over an order, is regulated by the top of the shafts, the die being always equal thereto. 'When balustrades are placed upon the entablature of an order, over the inter columns or interpilasters, and the base and cornice of the balustrade continued, ao as to brealc out and form pedestals over the columns or pilasters, tbe breadth of the die of the pedestals should be equal to the breadth of the top of the shafts ; and where there is no order, the breadth of the die is never more than its height, and very seldom narrower ; and the dies of the pedestals are frequently flanked with half dies, particularly when the range of balusters is long. 'fhis is not only apparently necessary, but is in reality use ful in shortening the range, and forming a better support for the ends of the rail. attics. An Attic is a part of a building standing on the cornice, similar in form to that of a pedestal ; and is either broken or continued. The use of an attic is to conceal the roof, and to give greater dig nity- to the design. The Romans employ ed atticsin their edifices, as may be seen in the remains of the trininphal arches, and piazza of Nerva. In the arch of Con stantine, pedestals are raised over the co lumns as high a.s the base of the attic, and these pedestals are again surmounted with insulated statues. In the ruins of Athens there are no attics to be found there is one, however, over a Corinthian colonacle Thessalonica, with breaks forming dwarf pilasters over the colnmns ; and with statues placed in front of the pilasters, as in the arch of Constantine. 'The attic carried round the two courts of the great temple of Balbec is also broken into dwarf pillasters over the columns and pilasters of the order ; and the dwarf pi lasters have blocking courses over them, on which statues are supposed to have been placed. Attics are very dispropor tional in the ruins of these ancient edifi ces, some of them being nearly one-ball of the height of the order. The moderns make their height equal to that of the entablature ; as to the proportion of the height of the members it may be the same as that for pedestals.