CHAPTER XIV — Critical Commentary & Notes

On the Epistyle—Called the Architrave by the Moderns—and Why Excessive Intercolumniations Crack Stone Architraves (Vitruvius Book III).

Historical & Mathematical Commentary

  • Paganini 1509 Plate Referenced: Folio 0215 (0215.rst, 0215.g1.png) displays the complete detailed profile and elevation of the Epistyle, Zophorus (Frieze), and Cornice with every single letter (\(a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, V, k, l, m, o\)) explained in Cap. XIV–Cap. XVI.

  • The 3 : 4 : 5 Arithmetic Progression of the Three Fasciae: Following Vitruvius III.5.10, after setting aside \(\frac{1}{7}\) of the architrave height for the top cymatium/taenia (\(h\)), the remaining \(\frac{6}{7}\) is divided into 12 parts distributed as 3, 4, and 5 to the lower, middle, and upper fasciae (\(a, c, e\)), so that the fasciae step outward and grow taller as they ascend toward the eye!

Constantin Winterberg’s Commentary (1889 Edition)

  • Winterberg Footnotes 1–2 (Arch. Cap. XIV, p. 324): (1) Compare the Entablature plate at the end of the treatise (Paganini Folio 0215, 0215.g1.png). (2) Where the 1509 print reads $\frac{1}{3}$ for the bead-moulding $b$, Vitruvius III.5.10 gives $\frac{1}{7}$ of the fascia (or $\frac{1}{4}$ in Fra Giocondo’s edition). (Winterberg Fussnoten 1–2 (Arch. Cap. XIV, S. 324): 1) Vgl. die betr. Figur a. Ende des Tractats. 2) wohl 1/4.)

Philological and Folio Apparatus

  • 1509 Paganini Witness Folios: 0078 (f. 31v–f. 31v)

  • Winterberg 1889 Italian Source: winterberg/02_architectura_italian/014_cap_XIV.txt

  • Winterberg 1889 German Source: winterberg/04_architectura_german/014_cap_XIV.txt

  • Marginal Woodcut Diagrams: 0 figure(s) extracted from the 1509 Venice witness.