BMCR 2009.07.12: Barletta on Gruben, Klassische Bauforschung

Gottfried Gruben, Klassische Bauforschung.  Muenchen:  Hirmer Verlag,
2007.  Pp. 304.  ISBN 978-3-7774-3085-0.  EUR 39.90; $56.00.

Reviewed by Barbara A. Barletta, University of Florida
([email protected])
Word count:  2286 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-12.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090712.html
-------------------------------

[Chapter titles are listed at the end of the review.]

This book is a collection of articles and essays written by G. Gruben
over nearly his entire career, with publication dates extending from
1965 to 2000.  It represents a selection of the numerous publications
of this author, which are listed at the back (302-303). The eleven
essays assembled here were apparently chosen for their range of
subjects and their appeal to a larger audience.  Thus, they include
general discussions of the role of the architect throughout history,
Classical architecture, the origin of the Greek temple, and
architectural reconstructions in Greece.  There are also more
specialized works that reflect Gruben's particular interests in marble
as a building material and in Ionic architecture.  This last subject is
represented by articles on the Sphinx Column at Aigina, Cycladic
architecture, and re-used columns on Naxos. The book is organized from
the general to the specific and within the latter category roughly from
earlier to later material.  The chapters are not numbered in the Table
of Contents, but their sources, which are cited at the back (304), are
given consecutive numbers and those will be used here.

The first chapter discusses the role of the architect through time,
with an emphasis on antiquity, as expected.  It begins by looking at
modern developments in architectural training, which have led to a
schism between technological advances and artistic design.  It then
traces the increasing complexity of constructions and the rise of the
architect as genius (the Egyptian Imhotep) in ancient society.  By the
Roman period the types of buildings and techniques of construction
demanded a fusion of architect and engineer.  During the Middle Ages
the role of the builder took a very practical and empirical turn, away
from a theoretical basis, despite the impressive achievements.  The
guilds of this period had not allowed freedom and creativity.  Yet both
theory and individual creativity were revived in the Renaissance.  Many
of the great architects of this period were trained in other arts as
well.  By showing the relationship between the role of architects and
the societies in which they lived, Gruben argues that the solution for
modern architects must likewise be sought in their own times.

Chapter two deals with the investigation of Classical architecture from
the Roman period onward and thus represents a companion to the previous
chapter.   Here, too, Gruben traces developments over time, from the
writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius to the rediscovery of his
treatise in the Renaissance and its corresponding impact.  During the
17th c. France begins to acquire a leading position in this
investigation with the foundation of the French Academy in Rome (1633).
The 18th c. brought the rediscovery of Paestum and excursions to
Greece, leading to an interest in Greek architecture.  Up to this
point, most of the investigations had been carried out by architects,
but with the rise of archaeology in the 19th c., a gap developed
between the two disciplines.  Gruben argues for closing that gap and,
as in the previous essay, for uniting art/architectural history with
the technical study of architecture.

Chapter three, on the origin of the Greek temple, traces the
development of both form and function from the 11th to the 6th
centuries B.C.  It begins by describing the basic types of religious
buildings and then explains their uses, from the funerary cult at
Lefkandi, to eighth-century temples with hearths for collective meals,
to elaborate enclosures for large-scale cult statues in the sixth
century.  Gruben also includes in this discussion secondary buildings
derived from the temple form, such as treasuries and stoas.  In parts
II and III, he examines individual examples from the Protogeometric and
Geometric periods and from Protoarchaic times (7th to beginning 6th
centuries).  One concern of part II is the possible continuity of cult
from the Bronze Age, which he concludes is rarely demonstrable.
Another is the adoption of the peristyle, which he accepts for several
early structures while noting that not everyone agrees.  The
Protoarchaic period introduces more permanent materials and the
architectural orders, with their separate developments in different
geographical regions.  In discussing Cretan temples under the Doric
order, Gruben seems to be accepting a link between ethnic background
(Dorian in this case) and architectural style, as suggested by
Vitruvius.  Similarly, he accepts a wooden origin for components of the
orders and accounts for their absence, for example at Isthmia, as
largely resulting from the lack of preservation of that material.

Because the aim of this essay is to present a general overview, the
author must necessarily summarize the information and in some cases
merely cite, rather than describe, examples.  Yet he supplements the
discussion with scholarly footnotes and good illustrations.  In its
citation of references and its emphasis on early periods, the essay
offers a somewhat different treatment from that in the various editions
of Gruben's Greek architecture book.  Its overview is even more useful
and should be required reading for any serious student of ancient
architecture.

In chapter four, Gruben reconstructs the Aigina Sphinx Column from
foundation to capital and then sets it within the development of the
Aphaia sanctuary.  Only a few fragments are preserved of the column,
but they provide important evidence for its reconstruction.  The smooth
cylindrical plinth suggests that the column rested on a correspondingly
smooth spira, as known from other early Ionic columns. The approximate
diameter of the column is calculated at the base from the largest
preserved shaft fragment and at the top from the circular setting on
the underside of the capital.  The column diameter, in turn, offers
possible reconstructions of its height.  Although the crowning
sculpture is not preserved, Gruben reconstructs it as a sphinx similar
to the fragmentary example recovered from the Aphrodite sanctuary on
Aigina.  On the basis of technical and stylistic characteristics, the
column is placed at the beginning of the sixth century.  Its location
outside the first two temenoi but inside the third and its display of
some chronologically later features are ascribed to its movement with
the remodeling of the sanctuary.

Although this article was originally published in 1965, it continues to
be important.  The capital remains one of the earliest representatives
of Ionic architecture, despite the additional material that has some to
light in the intervening years.  Gruben argues here for the
introduction of the Ionic stone column in a votive context, although
with antecedents in wooden architecture.  He expanded this idea in
subsequent works and it has generally been borne out by subsequent
evidence.

The next essay, "Griechische Un-Ordnungen," takes exception to the idea
of orders and canons, at least as applied to Ionic architecture.  In
contrast to Vitruvius, who cited a rigid set of forms and proportions,
or Winckelmann, who traced a development over time, Gruben argues that
Greek architecture often demonstrated uncanonical forms and gaps in the
presumed continuum.  He first explores the antecedents of the columnar
order, suggesting that rectangular pillars, rather than just columns,
might have played an important role.  The support function was enhanced
by the capital, which originated in the thickened top of the shaft of a
votive column from Sangri.  It was later enriched with a leaf crown to
form the Ionic echinus.  A transverse beam, which was embellished with
a volute, increased its bearing capacity.  The familiar Ionic frieze
appeared in early buildings as a covering for beam ends.

These early structures thus gave rise to the Ionic "order," but they
were hardly canonical.  In the fourth Temple of Dionysos at Yria on
Naxos (580/570 B.C.), the marble roof was visible from the interior.
The Naxian Oikos on Delos had extremely slender columns, with a height
over 13 lower diameters.  The columns of the Temple of Demeter at
Sangri stood on Ionic bases but bore Doric-like capitals.  The interior
columns varied in height by over 1 m. and were all much slenderer than
those of the fac,ade.  This building also had an open ceiling.  Such
diversity serves as a warning to modern scholars to examine all
evidence before offering reconstructions.

The sixth chapter surveys the evidence for Cycladic architecture at the
time of publication (1972).  It includes buildings on Naxos and Paros
but also the four Ionic treasuries at Delphi.  Of the cities dedicating
these treasuries, only Siphnos was Cycladic.  Nevertheless the
buildings are united by common features, such as size, plan, material
(Parian marble), wall base moulding, and sculpted frieze, which leads
to the suggestion that they were the products of a single building
tradition.   Both stylistic and technical details link that tradition
to the Cyclades.  This article is important not only for its discussion
of extant architecture and its attribution of the treasuries to a
Cycladic architectural tradition but also for the definition that it
provides of the characteristics of that tradition.

In the next essay, Gruben focuses on one Naxian temple, the fourth (and
last) of a series built for Dionysos at Yria and dated between 580 and
550 B.C.  According to the author, this is the first large-scale temple
in the Cyclades and as such, its technique of construction and use of
forms deserve attention.  Thus, anathyrosis appears on the doorsill and
marks of the tooth chisel are found on the roof.   The projecting wall
socle is assumed to represent an early version of the typical Cycladic
moulded wall base.  The interior columns are fluted and stand on
torus-crowned bases, with variations from one to another.  The doors
are enclosed by monoliths, although without the fasciae of later times.
Gruben concludes by noting that Cycladic architecture will continue to
develop over time, eventually giving rise to such precise buildings as
the Parthenon and Propylaia on the Athenian Acropolis.

The association of Attic and Cycladic architecture arises from
Classical Athens' adoption of the Island-Ionic order, the subject of
chapter eight.  Once again Gruben discusses the fourth Temple of
Dionysos at Yria but now as a development from its predecessors.  He
finds similar characteristics in the Naxian Oikos on Delos and the
Temple of Demeter at Sangri, on Naxos, especially in regard to the
entablature with its frieze course and the construction of the roof.
This essay concludes by repeating the defining traits of the "order,"
as originally set out in his 1972 article.  At the same time, the
author notes the absence of a canon in building types, forms, and
proportions and the eventual replacement of this order for Doric in
Cycladic architecture after the Persian Wars.

Cycladic roofs are addressed again in the next chapter (nine).  This
essay was originally published in 1989, apparently before Gruben
formulated his ideas on the ceiling beams of the Naxian Oikos (compare
figs. 53 and 155).  Nevertheless, it treats in some detail the
construction techniques and properties of marble beams and tiles, which
were used from the early sixth century in Cycladic roofs.  In the
mid-fifth century, marble ceilings and roofs become customary for
Athenian buildings.  These, however, required longer beams, which at
least in some cases were reinforced with iron bars.  Gruben attributes
the use of marble to a desire for perfection in temple architecture,
since the explanation (at least for Cycladic buildings) that wood or
terracotta was absent or expensive is countered by the nearly 10-fold
cost of marble over terracotta tiles.

The final two essays look at Greek architecture in post-Classical
times.  In "Wandernde Saeulen auf Naxos," Gruben discusses remains of a
fourth-century Ionic building that were re-used on both Naxos and
Paros.  Ten column shafts, which are similar in various ways including
their unusual number of flutes (18), were adopted for the church of
Agios Stephanos near the Naxian village of Angidia.  At least two
capitals found in another location on Naxos belong to these same
columns.  Additionally, Gruben has identified three other columns of
this group in the Hestia sanctuary on the neighboring island of Paros.
A two-fascia architrave, dentil course, and sima from this sanctuary
show close relationships with buildings of the "Ionian Renaissance" in
Asia Minor.  The remains thus provide evidence of an important Parian
structure of which no part is preserved in situ, while also warning
scholars against assuming the original location of a building from its
findspot.

The last essay is on restoration in Greece.  It focuses especially on
the Athenian Acropolis, comparing the approaches taken through time to
a performance.  Attempts to re-create the buildings in an "authentic"
manner have extinguished all post-Classical revisions and have even
caused damage through the use of inappropriate modern materials.
Current work on the Parthenon seeks to reverse this damage, but it also
has other aims: to complete the building, establish it as a national
monument, protect it for the future, and develop it as a tourist
destination.  Work has been carried out at other sites with the same
goals in mind but using different methods, as Gruben details.

The organization of this book is logical and the subjects of the
various essays often build on each other.  Yet the book remains a
compilation of individual essays rather than a work with a single
overriding theme.  As a result, some discussions overlap, risking
repetition and fragmentation. That is the nature of such a publication,
which was created as a testament to the varied interests and
contributions of it author.  It is useful in its assembly of articles
and essays from publications that are specialized and/or of limited
distribution. It thus makes accessible to the reader many valuable
observations and ideas from one of the greatest architectural
historians of our time.

Contents: Vorwort, Die Rolle des Architekten in der Geschichte,
Klassische Bauforschung, Die Entstehung des griechischen Tempels, Die
Sphinx-Saeule von Aigina, Griechische Un-Ordnungen, Kykladische
Architekur, Anfaenge des Monumentalbaus auf Naxos, Die inselionische
Ordnung, Weitgespannte Marmordecken in der griechischen Architektur,
Wandernde Saeulen auf Naxos, Anastilosis in Griechenland, Anhang.