898 I'RACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE.

Book HI.
the piers is
IJ
module each. The lu-ight of the plinth to the lower order is
IS module;
of the column, including base and capital, 18 modules; the
entablature
4i
modules. 'I'he pedestal of the upper order
is
4.J
modules liigh; column, including base and capital, 20
modules; entablature
4.J
modules; and, lastly, the balus-
trade is S? modules in height.
2663. Fig. 922. is an arrangement adopted by Palladio
in liis basilica at Vicenza, being the dimensions, or nearly,
of the arcades on the flanks. The intermediate ones are
much wider. In the basilica, however, the entablature
breaks round the columns of the orders. The width
between the axes of the columns of the lower order is 15
of their modules. The arch is 15 modules high and
7g
wide. The order wherefrom the arch springs is
10| modules
high; from axis to axis of the small columns in the lower
arcade is 9 modules. The height of the plinth is
U
module,
of the principal columns, including bases and plinths,
165
modules, and of their entablature 4 modules. In the upper
arcade the distance between the axes of the principal
columns is 1 8 of their modules. Their pedestals are 4
modules high, the columns, including bases and capitals, 1
8
modules, and entablature 4 modules high. The width of the
arch is
9
modules, and its height
20^
modules. The height
of the small columns is 1 1 TS.'J modules high, including
their entablature.
2664. The use of arcades above arcades seems from its
nature almost confined to public buildings, as among the
ancients to their theatres and amj)hitheatres. In the in-
Fir. 922.
terior quadrangles or courts of palaces they have been much
employed on the Continent,
and in the magnificent design made by Inigo Jones for the palace' at M'hitehall are to
be found some very fine examples.
Sect. XIII.
BASEMENTS AtiT) ATTICS.
2665. When the order used for decorating the facade of a building is i)lnced in the middle
wr second story, it is seated on a story called the basement. The proportion of iis height to
the rest must in a great measure depend on the use to which its apartments are to be
appropriated.
"
In Italy," observes Chambers,
"
where their summer habitations are very
frequently on that floor, the basements are sometimes very high. At the palace of Porti,
in Vicenza, the height is equal to that of the order placed thereupon
;
and at the Thiene,
in the same city, its height exceeds two thirds of that of the order, although it be almost
of a sutticicnt elevation to contain two stories ; but at the Villa Cajira, and at the Loco
Arsieri, both near Vicenza, the basement is only half the height of the order
;
because in
both these the ground floor consists of nothing but offices." It may hence be gathered that
no absolute law can be laid down in reference to the height of a basement story. Yet we may
state, generally, that a basement should not l)e higher than the order it is to support, for it
would in that case detract from the principal part of the composition, and, in fact, would be
likely to interfere with it. Resides which, the principal staircase then rccjuires so many steps
that space is wasted for their reception.
"
Neither," says Chambers,
"
should a basement
he lower than half the height of the order, if it is to contain apartments, and consequently
have windows and entrances into it
;
for whenever that is the case the rooms will be low,
the windows and doors very ill formed, or not proportional to the rest of the composition,
as is observable at Holkham : but if the only use of the basement be to raise the ground
floor, it need not exceed three, four, or at the most five or six feet in height, and be in the
form of a continued pedestal."
2666. Basement stories are decorated generally with rustic work of such various kinds,
that we fear it would be here impossible to describe or represent their varieties. INIany
are capriciously rock-worked on their surface, others are plain, that is, with a smooth sur-
face. The height of each course, including the joints, should on no account be less than
one module of the order which the basement supports
;
their length may be from once and
it half to thrice their height. As respects the joints, these may be square or chamfered
oir. When square joints are used, they should not be wider than one eighth part of the