Plate 94. Doorway from the Temple of Hercules at Cora

The Temple of Hercules at Cora belongs to the order of the so-called four-columned Prostyle of Doric style. It is a Roman work, about the time of the erection of which views widely differ, but the delicate style of the detail indicates the influence of the architecture of greater Greece, namely, the Pompeian. Particularly is this the case with the ornamentation of the doorway under the portico, which is here represented complete.

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the doorway and also a restoration of the filling. If we compare the different parts with the description of Doric doorways by Vitruvius, we find the arrangement of this doorway practically coinciding therewith. The smooth surface of the wide trim and its excessive projection at the ends of the lintel seem somewhat massive in comparison with the corona and consoles. Probably this wide surface was once painted with ornament in harmony with the delicate members, and it is all the more probable, as traces of stucco coating are yet discernible. This also would excuse the peculiar profile of the outer member, which in that case only answered for the foundation of stucco ornament.

Fig. 2 is a part of the cornice in elevation, and Fig. 3 a section with one of the consoles, and between them is a section of the moulding of the trim and of the console taken at its smallest projection. Only this part of the console is still preserved, the upper and lower scroll as also the acanthus leaf, being restored.

Fig. 4 is a section through the cornice at larger scale, with the ornaments found thereon, an egg moulding and a pearl bead. The latter particularly, with the dentils thereunder, shows much similarity to the same kind of ornament found on doors in Pompeii.

Of the parts belonging to the filling of the doorway nothing remains. On the restoration given in the plate we have governed ourselves partly after the description by Vitruvius and partly after the example of the door of the Pantheon at Rome. The door leaves are borrowed from a very old example at Rome, namely, from the Temple of Remus on the Forum Romanum, the round cella of which has for more than 1300 years answered as a church. The panels of these excellent doors consist of massive bronze plates. The borders are of the same metal, but hollow, and are connected together by pins, the heads of which answer for ornaments.