Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-23T13:32:45.907Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Appendix B - Analysis of the Hypothetical Working Drawing for Platform Curvature at Segesta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2011

John R. Senseney
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Get access

Summary

See Chapter 3 and Figure 61.

If one may accept Haselberger's construction as the method for creating the euthyteria's curvature along its flanks of the temple at Segesta (Figure 61), one may well ask how the architect arrived at a maximum rise of .086 m. An attractive answer may emerge from the internal correspondences of the drawing itself. The maximum ordinate located above the center of the chord is 1.404 m from the center of the arc's diameter: 1.49 m − 0.086 m = 1.404 m.

Given the 1.49 m magnitude of the radius connecting the same center to the ends of the chord, the Pythagorean Theorem confirms Seybold's calculation of the length of the chord as ca. 1 m: with a hypotenuse of 1.49 m, the resulting sides are 1.404 m and .499 m, with the latter doubled to .998 m for the chord's full length. The chord therefore shares an integral 2:3 relationship with the radius of the arc: .998/2 = .499; .499 × 3 = 1.497 m. Despite the similarity of whole-number ratios, one can clearly see that the sagitta of .086 m does not establish modular relationships in the manner of the blueprint at Didyma; to be modular, the relationships would have to be integral, whereas .985 m/.0845 m = 11.166 m, and 1.478 m/.0845 m = 17.491 m.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Art of Building in the Classical World
Vision, Craftsmanship, and Linear Perspective in Greek and Roman Architecture
, pp. 191
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×