(Student’s Full Name)
In Julien-David Le Roy’s The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments in Greece, shows that he was a proponent of creating architecture that had a “pleasing effect on the eyes” (165). Therefore, he was more appreciative of the manner in which the Greeks created their edifices. He noted that the Greeks used their surroundings to influence how they created a building. For instance, he explains how Calimachus, a Greek architect, was inspired to build the “Corinthian capital” after seeing some “Acanthus leaves,” which were in a basket that was “covered with a tile,” growing under the “angle of the tile” (Le Roy 166). The Greeks were so impressed with Calimachus’s use of ornamentation in the Corinthian “order” that he had created that they reserved this style of construction to the buildings of the “greatest magnificence” (Le Roy 167). On the other hand, Giovanni Battista Piranesi rejects the embellishment of the Greeks but accepts the Romans’ practicality in his writing that takes the form of a “Socratic dialogue” (Piranesi 185). He agrees with the Romans for using the Doric style, which was created by the Greeks, “without the added clutter” (Piranesi 186). Furthermore, he believed that columns in buildings, for instance, should not imitate “forked uprights” and “tree trunks” (Piranesi 186). Therefore, it can be argued that based on an analysis of these two writings, the architects Le Roy and Piranesi, who both represent the Enlightenment Age, are providing opposing opinions on architects depending on their creativity rather than their rationality in architectural design.
Le Roy credits the Greeks for using the best aspects of the human body to influence their “creative genius” to invent the Doric and Ionic styles of construction, which celebrates embellishment in architecture (Le Roy 167). For instance, in the Doric order, the columns are built to the “force and beauty of a man’s body,” which they calculated to be “six diameters” (Le Roy 166). In addition, in the Ionic order, the columns were designed to imitate the “more elegant proportions of the female body” (Le Roy 166). However, Piranesi argues, with the help of the character, Didascalo, that architects should not focus too much on embellishment. He disagrees with the Greeks use of “flutes” in columns to mimic “pleats in a matron’s gown” and ridiculed the idea of “women placed to support a roof” (Piranesi 186).
In conclusion, Le Roy was more supportive of the Greek style of architecture because he felt that architecture should celebrate beauty through ornamentation. Nevertheless, Piranesi argues for a more rational approach in designing architecture. Hence, it can be argued that Le Roy and Piranesi, who both represent the Enlightenment Age, offer opposing opinions on architects depending on their creativity instead of their rationality in architectural design.
Works Cited
Le Roy, Julien-David. The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Moments of Greece. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute, 2004. Print.
Piranesi, Giovanni Battista. Opinions on Architecture. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute, 2002. Print.
