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Engl.-schott. Architekt, Maler und Altertumswissenschaftler. Geb. 1713 als Sohn eines schott. Seemanns in London (Ludgate), gest. am 2. 2. 1788 ebda. Beigesetzt in der Krypta von St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Werdegang S. entstammte einfachen Verhältnissen, doch wurde seine Zeichen- und Malbegabung wie auch seine Sprachbegabung früh erkannt und gefördert. Nach dem Tod des Vaters war er als Maler in der Werkstatt Lewis Goupys tätig, die berühmt war für ihre Fächer mit ant. Motiven aus Italien. Neben seiner Tätigkeit als Maler …

Engl. Amateurarchäologe, Maler und Architekt. Geb. 1720 in Brandeston Hall nahe Framlingham, Suffolk; gest. ebda. am 3. 6. 1804. Werk und Wirkung Auf seiner Grand Tour erreichte der Gentleman R. 1742 Rom, wo er ein Studium der Malerei aufnahm. Hier traf er auf den schott. Architekten James Stuart, den Maler Gavin Hamilton und den Dandy Matthew Brettingham Jr. Auf einer gemeinsamen Reise nach Neapel entstand im April 1748 die Idee einer Expedition nach Griechenland und einer detaillierten Aufnahme der ant. Bauten, d…

Giambattista Piranesi Ital. Kupferstecher, Radierer, Architekt und Graphiker. Geb. am 10. 4. 1720 in Mogliano bei Venedig, gest. am 11. 9. 1778 in Rom. Ab 1740 Studium in Rom; ab 1743 tätig in Venedig, ab 1745 in Rom. Werdegang und Laufbahn P. wurde in Venedig als Maler bzw. Theatermaler bei den Gebrüdern Valeriani und seinem Onkel Matteo Lucchese ausgebildet, gelangte 1740 mit einer venez. Gesandtschaft nach Rom und widmete sich dort dem Studium der röm. Architektur (erste Veröffentlichung schon 1743 [1]). Bei Giuseppe Vasi wurde …

British architect, painter and antiquarian. Born 1713, the son of a Scottish seaman in London (Ludgate), died there 2. 2. 1788. Buried in the crypt of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Career S. came from a lowly background, but his gifts for drawing, painting and languages were recognized and encouraged from an early age. After his father’s death, he worked in the studio of Lewis Goupy, which was famous for its painted fans with ancient Italian motifs. Alongside his work as a draughtsman and painter, S. studied mathematics, geomet…

Giambattista Piranesi Italian engraver, etcher, architect and graphic artist. Born Mogliano (Venice) 10. 4. 1720, died Rome 11. 9. 1778. From 1740 studying at Rome; from 1743 active in Venice, from 1745 in Rome. Career P. was trained at Venice as a painter (and painter of theatrical sets) by the Valeriani brothers and his uncle Matteo Lucchese. He went to Rome in 1740 with a Venetian mission, and devoted himself while there to the study of Roman architecture (first publication already 1743 [1]). Giuseppe Vasi introduced P. to the engraving of vedute, but financial circumstances forced…

British amateur archaeologist, painter and architect. Born 1720 in Brandeston Hall near Framlingham, Suffolk; died there 3. 6. 1804. Work and influence On his Grand Tour, the gentleman R. reached Rome in 1742, and took up the study of painting. He met the Scottish architect James Stuart here, as well as the painter Gavin Hamilton and the dandy Matthew Brettingham Jr. Visiting Naples together in 1748, the three hit upon the idea of an expedition to Greece to make a detailed study of the ancient buildings; the project …

[German version] A. Definition and function The Graeco-Roman altar (ἐσχάρα, βωμός; eschára, bōmós; Lat. ara, ‘fireplace’) is defined by its function and not as an object of a certain type. An altar can be an ephemeral natural or artificial elevation, hearth or building for sacrifices involving fire, drink or other elements (in contrast to the sacrificial pit dug into the ground, the βόθρος [ bóthros], Hom. Od. 10, 517; Lucian Char. 22) and marks the centre of a sacrificial act. There are sanctuaries without a  temple, but never without an altar ([23. 150]; a…

[German version] (Angiportus). Lane; synonymous with vicus. According to Vitr. De arch. 1,6,1, a narrow lane or side street in contrast to platea and via, sometimes a cul-de-sac in Roman city layouts. Larger houses had a rear entrance accessible from the angiportum. Cf.  Town planning;  Roads;  Construction of Roads Höcker, Christoph (Kissing) Bibliography W. H. Groß, s. v. Angiportus, KlP 1, 352.

This item can be found on the following maps: Achaeans, Achaea | Education / Culture (Φιγάλεια/ Phigáleia, Φιγαλία/ Phigalía, from the Hellenistic Period Φιάλεια/ Phiáleia). [German version] I. Location and historical development Town in southwest Arcadia on a very remote mountainous site above the north bank of the Neda (Pol. 4,3,5ff.; Str. 8,3,22; Paus. 8,39,1-42,13; Ptol. 3,16,19; Hierocles, Synecdemus 647,13), near present-day Figalia, and with close geographic and historical connections to Messana [2]. The town has a well…

[German version] A rostrum (Greek βῆμα/ bêma; Latin plural rostra,) is an elevated podium, a pulpit (early Christian  ámbōn, Lat. ambo), or a type of stand, shaped in a variety of forms, which raises the speaker above his audience. This is useful not only from an acoustic point of view, but also lends importance to the protagonist acting on the podium, as it 'lifts' him in a significant way over his surroundings. Rostrum-like devices must already have been present in the archaic Greek citizen communities, as in all larger communities of colonists which had to decide…

[German version] I. Nomenclature and definition Roman triumphal arches (TA) as a free-standing monument were originally called fornix . Around the beginning of the Common Era the word ianus came into use, followed with increasing regularity by arcus. The term arcus triumphalis came into use in the 3rd cent. AD, leading in the early 19th cent. to the problematic modern concept of 'triumphal arches'. This refers to an imposing arch structure, generally free-standing, but sometimes also to an arch that spans a roadway and connects two bui…

[German version] Theatre on the Campus Martius in Rome; probably already begun under Caesar and completed by Augustus in 17 BC for the Saecular Games ( Saeculum III), but dedicated only in 13 or 11 BC in the name of the nephew and first - early deceased - 'heir' of Augustus, M. Claudius [II 42] Marcellus. It was built on the place on which a large wooden temporary theatre was customarily constructed only for performances, and so takes its place in a tradition which was well-known in the Rome of the time. The complex, wh…

[German version] Modern architectural term describing the ideally identical spacing between mutuli (Mutulus) - sometimes also the distance between the guttae of mutuli - on the geison in the Doric entablature of a peripteral temple (Angle triglyph problem; Column). Höcker, Christoph (Kissing)

[German version] I. Definition Assembly buildings (AB) are in the following defined as any building of Greek and Roman antiquity, which within the framework of the social, political, or religious organization of a community served as the architectonically defined location for interaction and communication. However, it is not always possible to define the function of an AB unambiguously nor to assume its exclusive usage. Sometimes, buildings or parts of buildings fall under the above definition, whic…

[German version] [1] Barrier in a Roman circus Term for the massive elongated barrier that divided a Roman circus into two tracks running in opposite directions. A spina was usually walled and variously decorated (e.g. with statues); at its ends stood the metae (Meta [2]) that marked the turning point of the running track. Höcker, Christoph (Kissing) Bibliography J. Humphrey, Roman Circuses, 1986, Index s. v. S. [German version] [2] City at the mouth of the Spines This item can be found on the following maps: Venetic | Etrusci, Etruria | Colonization Etruscan city at the mouth of th…

[German version] A. Etymology, term, delimitation The term architect, not documented before the 5th cent. BC, derives from the Greek ἀρχιτέκτων ( architéktōn; Hdt. 3.60; 4.87); in turn, this term is derived from τέκτων ( téktōn); τεκτωσύνη ( tektosýnē; carpentry), which shows that the architect of early archaic times initially dealt with  wood and only later came in contact with stone as a building material. The Latin arc(h)itectus is a loan word from this Greek semantic field. An architect is associated with practical tasks carried out by tradesmen in the cont…

[German version] ‘Non-genuine’ dome constructions from layered corbel stone vaults ( Vaults and arches, construction of) are to be found throughout Mediterranean cultures from the 3rd millennium BC; they seem to have entered largely independently the architectural repertory of Minoan Crete (tholos graves at Mesara and Knossos), Mycenaean Greece (‘Treasure-house’ of Atreus in Mycenae; ‘domed grave’ at Orchomenus), Sardinia ( nuraghe), Thrace and Scythia (so-called ‘beehive’-domes on graves and also Etruria (domed grave at Populonia). This form is mostly …

(γυμνάσιον; gymnásion). [German version] I. Building style Public facility for sporting and musical leisure activities in the Greek polis; the term is derived from γυμνός/ gymnós (naked) and refers to the  nakedness at sports practices and competitions. Synonymous with gymnasium for the period from the 4th cent. BC in ancient written sources as well as in modern specialized literature is the concept of the  palaistra (cf. Vitruvius 5,11). This as the ‘Wrestler school’ originally referred only to a functionally determine…

[German version] (ὀπαῖον, opaîon). The opening in the roof or dome in the architecture of antiquity; an important element of lighting in ancient buildings. Rare in Greek architecture ('lantern' of the Lysicrates monument in Athens; Telesterion of Eleusis), but common in Roman dome building. Dome, Construction of Domes; Roofing Höcker, Christoph (Kissing) Bibliography W.D. Heilmeyer (ed.), Licht und Architektur, 1990  C. Spuler, Opaion und Laterne. Zur Frage der Beleuchtung antiker und frühchristlicher Bauten durch ein Opaion und zur Entstehung der Kuppellaterne, 1973.

(Πύθιον/ Pýthion). [German version] [1] Term for Attic sanctuaries to Apollo A term rarely used in modern archaeology but common in Antiquity for various Athenian and Attic sanctuaries to Apollo: 1. in southeast Athens on the right bank of the Ilissus (inscriptions, tripod bases extant); 2. cave sanctuary in the cliff on the northwest side of the Acropolis (numerous finds; however, often denoted in ancient literature with the cult name of Apóllōn Hypakraîos); 3. near the Daphni monastery on the sacred way to Eleusis (of undetermined location but presumably the sourc…