Chap. VII. AND PRO But this is nearly the only branch of the archæological collections to Book III, which there seems little probability of future additions. If, contrary to expectation, any such should be made, a supplemental room might be built on the vacant space to the north of the Assyrian galleries. XVIII. Persian Room.-The sculptures to be here exhibited, which are all bas-reliefs, would probably not occupy more than half the wallspace, which is forty-seven linear feet. They belong chiefly to the sixth century, B.C., and properly therefore succeed the Assyrian, which range RECONfrom the tenth to the seventh century, B.C. JECTORS. MR. OLDFIELD'S PROJECT OF STRUCTION continued. ROOM. LYCIAN GALLERY. XIX. Lycian Gallery.-It is intended to reserve this room for the (1858-1860)— monuments peculiarly characteristic of Lycia, and to transfer to the PERSIAN Greek galleries those in which the Greek element is predominant; such as, particularly, the sculptures of the Ionic trophy monument or heroum from Xanthus, now scattered over the room, and, if necessary, the casts from the rock tomb at Myra. This would leave abundant space for the purely Lycian remains. The harpy tomb, of which the bas-reliefs furnish a very important illustration of archaic Greek art, might best be placed in an isolated position near the entrance to the Greek galleries, where it would be favourably lighted and conspicuously seen. Its present place might be filled by the rude sarcophagus with sculptures of lions. The lighting of the Lycian room, which is very defective, should be improved by an alteration in the roof; but it is thought better not to enter into the details of such alteration in the present paper. ROOM. XX. First Greek or Inscription Room.—The room beneath this being FIRST supposed to be withdrawn from exhibition, the staircase at the west end GREEK should be separated by a partition, and entered through a private door. All Greek inscriptions, except the sepulchral, and such as are engraved on architectural or sculptural monuments, would be here collected. At this point the new buildings commence with— XXI. Second Greek or Branchida Room, thirty feet by twenty-four.The height both of this and the four succeeding rooms should be about GREEK twenty feet. This would contain the earliest Greek sculptures, of which Room. the principal are those procured by Mr. NEWTON from Branchidæ. The ten seated statues would be arranged on each side, as in the 'Sacred Way' at that place, and the recumbent inscribed lion and the sphinx placed at the end of the room. SECOND THIRD XXII. Third Greek Room, twenty-four feet by seventeen.-This would GREEK contain other archaic works, including the casts from Selinus. ROOM. ROOM. XXIII. Fourth Greek or Eginetan Room, thirty-eight feet by twenty- FOURTH four. Here would be fixed, in two recesses, the restorations of the two GREEK pedimental groups from Ægina, which are exactly of the length of this room, and which might be placed at a more convenient level for examination than their present elevated position in room. FIFTH GREEK XXIV. Fifth Greek Room, seventeen feet by twenty-four.-On a pedes ROOM. BOOK III, RECON STRUCTORS MR. OLDFIELD'S PROJECT OF (1858-1860)- SIXTH GREEK EIGHTH GREEK NINTH GREEK ROOM. tal, facing the great Greek gallery, might stand the semi-archaic Apollo, from Byzantium. XXV. Sixth Greek or Phigaleian Room, thirty-eight feet by twentyfour. Here would be the casts from the Temple of Theseus, and the sculptures and casts from the Temple of Wingless Victory, both of the middle of the fifth century, B.C.; also the Phigaleian collection, which is a somewhat later production of the same school. The friezes, arranged in two rows, would just fill the room. XXVI. Seventh Greek or Parthenon Room.-Here would commence the grand suite of galleries for large sculptures, of which the general breadth would be forty-two feet, and the height from thirty to thirtyfive feet. By its side would run a secondary suite, twenty feet wide, and from fifteen to twenty feet high, for minor specimens, of which the interest generally is rather archæological than artistic. These latter objects are both more conveniently classified, and more favourably seen, in small rooms; if placed in large galleries, beside grand monumental works, they lose importance themselves, whilst they fritter away the effect of what is really more valuable. The Seventh Greek Room, which is two hundred and forty-one feet long, would contain only the remains of the Parthenon; which might be arranged as indicated in the Plan, so as at once to keep the pedimental groups and the frieze from interfering with each other, and to distinguish, more accurately than is now done, the original connection or disconnection of the several slabs of the frieze. As we possess the entire frieze from the east end of the temple, and casts of the entire frieze from the west, these two are here arranged opposite each other, towards the middle of the two side walls of the room. On either side are the slabs from the north and south flanks of the temple, which are mostly disconnected. In front of the casts from the west is a proposed full-sized model of part of the entablature, supported by one original and five restored capitals, with the upper parts of their shafts, and incorporating ten of the metopes, so as to explain their original combination with the architecture. The total height of this model might be about eighteen feet. The metopes not included in it should be attached to the wall opposite, over the frieze. The finest of the pedimental groups would face the grand entrance from the Lycian Gallery, through which the whole might be seen in one view, from any distance less than forty-eight feet. If it were desired to retain the two small models of the Parthenon in the room, they might stand near the south end. XXVII. Eighth Greek or Erechtheum Room, sixty-five feet by twentysix, for monuments of the era between Phidias and Scopas, of which the principal are the remains of the Erechtheum. XXVIII. Ninth Greek, or Mausoleum Room, one hundred and twenty feet in length, forty-two in breadth, and eighty across the transept. STRUCTORS JECTORS. Here would be, 1. The marbles procured by Lord STRATFORD and Mr. Book III, NEWTON, from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; in the west transept, Chap. VII. RECONthe group from the quadriga, and in the southern part of the room the other important sculptural and architectural remains of the building, AND PROincluding the frieze. 2. In the east transept, the colossal lion from Cnidus, with a few other sculptures of the same school. 3. In the MR. northern part of the room, the Xanthian Ionic monument, here placed for comparison with the remains of the Mausoleum. The whole upper portion RECONof this monument, commencing with the higher of the two friezes which STRUCTION surrounded the original base, might be reconstructed, though not restored, and would form a striking termination to the vista through the galleries. The lower frieze might be arranged against the adjoining walls of the room. OLDFIELD'S PROJECT OF (1853-1860) continued. ROOM. XXIX. Tenth Greek Room.-Having thus passed through the great TENTH monumental series of Greek sculptures in chronological order, the GREEK visitor would return south by the side rooms, containing minor remains of the same school. The Tenth Greek Room would be forty-two feet by twenty, and would contain the latest of the smaller sculptures. XXX. Eleventh Greek Room, thirty-three feet by twenty.-This should ELEVENTH be appropriated to the small fragments from the Mausoleum, which would GREEK thus be in immediate connection with its larger sculptures, without impairing their grandeur of effect. ROOM. AND THIR- XXXI, XXXII. Twelfth and Thirteenth Greek Rooms, together one TWELFTH hundred and thirty-five feet in length and twenty in breadth.-The exact position of the wall separating these rooms might be reserved till GREEK the arrangement of their contents was settled. In one might be archi- RooмS. tectural fragments, from buildings not represented in the large galleries; in the other, small tablets, votive offerings, altars, and other minor sculptures. ROOM. XXXIII. Fourteenth Greek or Sepulchral Room, ninety-three feet by FOURTEENTH eighteen. Here would be all the Greek sepulchral monuments now in GREEK the basement. The casts from the sculptured tomb at Myra, of which the style is more Greek than Lycian, might also be here placed, as indicated in the plan, in case it should be thought desirable to remove them from the Lycian Room, though the expediency of this transfer may perhaps be doubted. Wherever placed, these casts ought to be so put together as to explain the true arrangement of the originals. [Then follows a Summary of the Accommodation provided in the Plan for Greek Sculptures, amounting to a superficial area of twenty-seven thousand four hundred and ten square feet, and to two thousand one hundred and ninety-one lineal feet of wall-space.] XXXIV. Etruscan Room.-The next parallel on the ground floor ETRUSCAN would be devoted to the monuments of ancient Italy. The earliest are ROOM. the Etruscan, which, being altogether taken from tombs, would properly BOOK III, Chap. VII. RECON STRUCTORS AND PRO JECTORS. MR. PROJECT OF RECON- (1858-1860) continued. FIRST GRÆCOROMAN ROOM. SECOND GRÆCO. ROMAN be placed adjacent, on the one side to the Greek, on the other to the Roman, sepulchral collections. The principal portion of the Etruscan Room would be fifty-five feet by forty, with additional recesses at the south end, the whole about twenty feet high. Two rows of pilasters would divide the room into three compartments, the central for the gangway, the other two to be fitted up as a series of tombs, of which the sides would be formed of the mural restorations, with fac-similes of paintings from Corneto and Vulci. Within these restored tombs would be such sarcophagi as we possess, found in the tombs themselves. The fac-similes of the painted roofs of two of the tombs might be fixed above them, at such a height as not to obstruct the light. In the central compartment, which contains six shallow recesses between the pilasters, might be monuments from various tombs other than those here restored. XXXV. Staircase Room, forty feet by thirty, and of the same height as the three united stories of the western galleries.-Four successive flights of steps would be required to reach each floor. The landings between the first and second, and between the third and fourth flights, might each be supported by Caryatid or Atlantic figures, which would give the whole composition an ornamental effect, as seen from the east side. Beneath one side of this staircase might be a private one leading to the western basement. To the north is another private staircase, conducting to the basement under the Greek galleries. The adjoining passage leads to— XXXVI. First Græco-Roman Room.-The Etruscan monuments are succeeded chronologically by the Græco-Roman, here placed so as to adjoin the galleries both of Greek and of Roman art. In accordance with the character of Græco-Roman sculpture, the apartments containing it should be somewhat ornamentally constructed and arranged, as in the great continental museums, where works of this class form the staple of the collections. The position of the principal objects in all this series of rooms is marked in the plan, without distinguishing them individually, as none are of such a character as to require any special architectural provision. The first room is one hundred and six feet by twenty-six, exclusive of the alcoves. Its height need not, for the display of statuary, exceed twenty feet; but if, for architectural effect, a vaulted ceiling is preferred, the height must be increased. In the Braccio Nuovo, in the Vatican Museum, which is probably the finest gallery of this kind in Europe, and has a cylindrical vault, with a central skylight, the proportion of height to breadth is about thirty-seven feet to twentyseven; but in the darker climate of London the height should not, if possible, exceed the breadth. XXXVII. Second Græco-Roman Room, or Rotunda, sixty feet in diameter, and about sixty feet high in the centre, being surmounted by STRUCTORS AND PRO JECTORS. a hemispherical dome. This room is, with slight variations, and on a Book III, Chap. VII. somewhat smaller scale, a copy of the Rotunda in the Museum of Berlin, RECONan apartment universally admired for its architectural beauty, and only defective as a hall for sculpture from the unnecessary smallness of the central skylight. The entablature over the columns would support a gallery, opening into the first floor of the western buildings. XXXVIII. Third Græco-Roman Room, similar to the first, but only one hundred and one feet long, exclusive of the northern alcove. The spaces between the lateral alcoves on the east side of the First and Third Græco-Roman Rooms might either be covered with glass, or left open for ventilation, though the second arrangement would involve a provision for the drainage below. The amount of accommodation for Græco-Roman sculptures cannot, from the form of the rooms, be stated with the same exactness as that for the Greek. Exclusive of the alcoves, there would be in the MR. RECON STRUCTION THIRD ROMAN ROOM. SUMMARY OF ACCOMMODA- FUTURE EN- The Rotunda would not have available space in proportion to its size. Twelve statues or busts between the columns, and perhaps a large sculpture in the centre, would be the natural complement of the room. The wall-space behind the columns would not be available for sculpture. The total accommodation in the three rooms would amply suffice for our present collection, even somewhat enlarged. As it increased, however, MEANS OF further space might be obtained by erecting in the first and third rooms transverse walls, opposite the alcoves in the Roman galleries, thus subdividing the first room into three principal compartments, with a small lobby at each end, and the third into three compartments (of which the most northern would need some modification), with a lobby at the south end. The doorways through these walls might be twelve feet wide, so as to preserve the continuous appearance of the suite; and they would still leave one hundred and twelve feet of additional wall-space in the first room, and eighty-four in the third. The lighting would be somewhat improved by such an alteration. WESTERN The last suite of galleries on the ground floor would contain the Roman and Phoenician remains. To avoid any obscuration from the GALLEries. houses on the west side of Charlotte Street, the windows should be as high in the wall as possible, and as broad as architectural propriety |
