PILASTERS—PLATE XVI
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The Romans made their Pilaster Capitals resemble those of the Columns. This works well, except with the Ionic Capital, in which the projecting Echinus presents an almost insuperable difficulty, Fig. 133.
As Pilasters do not generally diminish in width at the top, their Capitals are one-fifth broader than those of the Columns. If, in this case, the Architrave comes in line with the upper face of the column, the face of the Pilaster projects one-twelfth of a Diameter beyond it, as appears in the perspectives given in Plates III, IV, VIII, X, and XII. But Pilasters are often made half a sixth narrower than the Columns at the bottom, and half a sixth wider at the top, having thus a uniform Diameter of five-sixths and a half. In this case the base moldings are spread so as to make the plinth of the usual size, and in the Corinthian Pilaster Capital, the upper row of leaves, the volutes, and the abacus have the same dimensions as those of the columns, while the leaves of the two lower rows are made broader, Fig. 134.
Pilasters generally project from the wall a quarter of their diameter, but sometimes have to be made thicker in order to receive string-courses or other horizontal moldings that they cut across. If made much thicker than this, they are apt to look thicker than the columns alongside them, and piers always do, noticeably enhancing the slenderness of the columns near them.
Pilasters are generally plain, but if Ionic and Corinthian Pilasters do not diminish at the top they are often fluted. Since the columns have twenty-four channels and twenty-four fillets, and the diameter is nearly a third of the circumference, there is space on the Pilaster for eight channels and eight fillets, very nearly. But as the number of channels must be one less than the number of fillets, only seven are employed, with eight fillets. This has the advantage of putting a channel on the axis, and of making the two outer fillets wider than the others. It is common to omit the fluting on the sides. But a projection of a quarter of a Diameter gives room for one channel, and half a Diameter for three.
The Greeks gave their Pilasters Bases like those of the Columns, but Capitals of their own, composed of a series of moldings, Fig. 135.
Pilasters are preferable to half columns, which always look smaller than they are, and have a mean appearance. Moreover, any moldings that they interrupt seem to cut them in two, Fig. 136. In these respects, three-quarter columns are better, though they are apt to look clumsy, and they inevitably make an awkward junction with the wall behind them, especially if they are fluted. They also make it uncertain which is the principal supporting member, the wall or the column.
