A portico of the Pandroseum at Athens furnishes an
instance of the representation of female figures supporting
an entablature, and is so beautiful as almost to justify what
may perhaps be considered as a capricious deviation from
established taste. The date of this elegant structure must,
beyond all doubt, be deemed coëval with that of the double
temple of Minerva-Polias and Pandrosus to which it is
annexed'.
It is not at present my intention, in addition to these
remarks on the temples of the Greeks, to pursue and to note
the gradual changes and variations in the different species of
their ornamental architecture—their theatres—their forums
—their public baths and private dwellings; although each of
these topics furnishes matter for much curious investigation. It
remains, however, to attempt briefly to ascertain the age and
origin of the use of the arch, an invention which was calculated
to produce the greatest revolution in the practice of architecture
at the period of its adoption, and which, from its many
advantages, has been universally preserved and admired in
modern times. After submitting this subject to a good deal
of inquiry and reflection, it appears most probable that the
era of the Macedonian conquest nearly coincides with that of
the first introduction of this remarkable feature of Grecian
architecture. Much has been written to prove that the use
of the arch was not only familiar to the earliest artists of
Thessalonica, still remaining in part, and described by Stuart (Athens, vol. iii. c. 9.)
This edifice, indeed, ought perhaps to be added to the examples mentioned in the
text, although its date is of questionable authority.
Pausan. Att. 21. Stuart’s Athens, vol. ii. c. 2.