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Temple of Vespasian, Rome, c.1759-64. Measured drawings (2)

Notes

The Temple of the Deified Vespasian in the Roman Forum (here labelled the Temple of Jupiter Tonans) was begun by the Emperor's elder son Titus, Ad 79-81. The standing Corinthian columns were re-erected in 1881. The entablature preserved in the substructure of the adjacent Tabularium, is described by Ward-Perkins (1981, p.712) as an 'outstanding example of Flavian architectural ornament, bold, deeply cut, and very rich' and by Sear (1981, p.147) thus: 'The frieze with relief bucrania and sacrificial vessels and implements is capped by enriched egg and acanthus leaf moulding, dentis with "spectacle" between and a prominent egg and dart. The modillions have heavy acanthus cladding [imbrication] and there is a rosette in each coffer between. The corona has a tongue moulding and is separated from the sima by a cyma reversa decorated with linked palmettes.' The drawings correspond to this account except that the frieze is shown only with the inscription ESTITVER and without bucrania or other motifs.

LITERATURE. J.B. Ward-Perkins, Roman Imperial architecture, 1981; F.Sear, Roman architecture, 1982.

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Contents of Temple of Vespasian, Rome, c.1759-64. Measured drawings (2)