Plate 87. Architrave Soffits

Though the form and ornamentation of the architrave soffit are not subject to any given rules, we have considered it proper to give a number of examples from the old Roman monuments. On the plates heretofore considered are found the orders to which they belong.

We see that the ornamentation is a matter of taste and governed by the richness of the entablatures, as can be observed at the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, at the three columns on the Campo Vaccino (Temple of Jupiter Stator), at the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, and at the columns of the Forum Nerva. On the first-named example the ornamentation follows the curve of the abacus; at the small Altars of the Pantheon, and the Forum of Nerva, it partly surrounds the flower of the capital. At the orders of the Pantheon and on others it has a simple rectangular form.

On the entablatures of the Grecian monuments the under surface of the architrave was smooth and without ornamentation.