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TRIUMPHAL ARCH

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 297 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TRIUMPHAL See also:

ARCH , the See also:term given to See also:arches erected to commemorate some See also:special victory, but here extended to include those built at memorial arches to some benefactor of the See also:Roman See also:Empire, such as those at See also:Rimini, See also:Ancona and See also:Benevento; arches erected as monumental entrances to towns, as at See also:Nimes and See also:Autun; arches on See also:bridges, as at Chamas in See also:France and See also:Alcantara in See also:Spain; and lastly those which preceded the entrance to a See also:forum or sacred enclosure, or formed See also:part of a colonnaded See also:street, as in See also:Syria. There is every See also:reason to suppose that in See also:early times in See also:Greece and See also:Etruria temporary erections, such as those of the See also:present See also:day, were set up on the occasion of the public entry, after a See also:great victory, of some See also:emperor or See also:general; but the See also:Romans would seem to have been the first to erect such structures in See also:stone or See also:marble, to enrich them with See also:sculpture, and to raise aloft on their See also:summit the See also:quadriga or four-horsed See also:chariot with statues and trophies. The See also:time involved in the construction of such a memorial, and more especially that which would be required for its enrichment with sculpture, rendered it impossible that they should be set up on the occasion of the triumphal entry itself, and it is known that the arch of See also:Titus was not erected till some time after his See also:death by his successor See also:Domitian. There is always some difficulty in deciding between triumphal and memorial arches, as they were virtually similar in See also:design, equally enriched with sculpture, generally surmounted with a quadriga and statues, and as a See also:rule were isolated structures. The earlier arches were pierced with a single arch and were comparatively See also:simple in design, being decorated by pilasters or semi-detached columns only; the existence of chariots and statues on their summit is known only from coins or gems, on which such features are always shown. The arch of Titus in See also:Rome (fig. 4), A.D. 81, is the first one enriched with bas-See also:relief sculpture, in this See also:case representing the triumphs of Titus with the seven-branched See also:candlestick and the See also:golden table brought from See also:Jerusalem. The next sculptural arch of See also:triumph is that built at Benevento (fig. 2) in See also:South See also:Italy (A.D. 112) by See also:Trajan, recording the Dacian victories: The triumphal arch (fig. 5) of Septimius See also:Severus (A.D.

203) has a central and two See also:

side arches, the bas-reliefs on it representing the See also:Parthian victories; and the last important arch in Rome is that of See also:Constantine (fig. 6), which had also three arches, and was embellished with bas-reliefs, representing the Dacian victories, which were taken from the arch of Trajan on the Via See also:Appia and others of Constantine's time, representing the See also:conquest of See also:Maxentius. Passing to other countries, we have the triumphal arches at St Remy and at See also:Orange (fig. 8) ; those at See also:Carpentras and Cavail-See also:Ion, also in France, which were probably of later date, as possiblyalso the triple arch at See also:Reims. The triumphal arch with three arches at See also:Fano in Italy is said to have been commenced by See also:Augustus, but completed by Constantine, who probably added the two side arches and decorated it with inferior sculpture. At See also:Timgad (Thamugada) in See also:North See also:Africa is a triumphal arch with central and two side arches, probably of See also:Hadrian's time, and one with triple arches at See also:Sbeitla (Suffetula), also in North Africa, and another example at See also:Saintes in France, built on a See also:bridge. Of memorial arches the earliest are the examples of Rimini (fig. 7) and See also:Aosta, erected to Augustus, and later the arch at Ancona (fig. 3) erected to Trajan (A.D. 112) as a See also:record of the construction of the See also:port there. At See also:Pola, in See also:Istria, is an archway erected in memory of the Sergii. Of less important examples in Rome are the arches of See also:Dolabella (A.D.

10), See also:

Drusus (A.D. 23), See also:Gallienus (A.D. 262), the silversmith's arch (A.D. 204); in See also:Verona, the Porta dei Borsari and the Porta de Leoni, erected by Gallienus (A.D. 265); at See also:Aix-See also:les-Bains in France, an arch of See also:late 3rd See also:century; and at See also:Lambessa, in North Africa, the arches of See also:Commodus (A.D. 187) and of Septimius Severus (A.D. 200). In Spain there are two monumental arches erected by Trajan at Alcantara, in the centre of the bridge built by him (A.D. 108), and the arch of See also:Santiago at See also:Merida; a third example exists in the Arco di Bara at See also:Tarragona. Quadriportal archways are those which were built in the centre of four See also:cross roads, such as the arch of See also:Janus in Rome, built by See also:Constans (A.D. 350), the arch of See also:Caracalla at Tebesse (Thevesti) in North Africa, and many examples in Syria, of which the arch at Ladikiyah (See also:Laodicea ad See also:Mare) is in perfect preservation. The colonnaded streets in Syria were entered through magnificent archways, of which the finest examples are those at See also:Palmyra and See also:Gerasa.

As entrance gateways to towns there are many examples which were sometimes built as memorial arches, but formed part of the See also:

city walls, such as the entrance See also:gate at See also:Susa in Italy, erected in memory of Augustus (8 B.C.), decorated with reliefs of the Suovetaurelia (sacrifices); the See also:Porte d'Avroux and Porte St See also:Andre at Autun, and the Porte d'Auguste at Nimes, in France; the Porte d'Auguste at See also:Perugia in Italy and the Porta See also:Nigra at Treves in See also:Germany; to these should be added the three entrance gateways to the See also:palace of See also:Spalato (A.D. 303), one of these, the Porta Aurea, or Golden Gate, showing in its enriched design certain decadent forms which led to the See also:Byzantine and See also:Renaissance styles; lastly there are the arched entrances, to sacred or See also:civil enclosures, such as the example at Sbeitla (Suffetula) in North Africa, the arch of Hadrian at See also:Athens (fig. 1), built to his memory by his successors, and the archway of the See also:Propylaea at See also:Damascus. The triumphal arch found no See also:place in See also:medieval See also:architecture, but in Renaissance See also:works there are many examples, of which the triumphal entrance arch of See also:King Alfonso at See also:Naples (A.D. 1470) comes first. Of isolated structures, there are in See also:Paris the Porte St See also:Martin (1647), St See also:Denis (1684), arch of Carrousel in the Tuileries (1808), and the Arc de l'Etoile in the Champs Elysees, completed in 1830; in See also:Berlin the Brandenburger See also:Thor (1790); in See also:Munich the Siegesthor (1843) and Metzger Thor (1880); in See also:Milan the Arch of See also:Peace, commenced by See also:Napoleon in 1807 and completed in 1857 by the Austrians (an interesting example, as it still preserves the chariot and horses and statues which formerly crowned all triumphal arches); and in See also:London the Marble Arch, originally built in front of See also:Buckingham Palace, but removed to the north-See also:east See also:angle of See also:Hyde See also:Park in 1843, and the See also:Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, without the statue of the See also:duke on horseback, afterwards set up at See also:Aldershot. (R. P.

End of Article: TRIUMPHAL ARCH

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