Theatrical motif

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Tabularium motif in a German Palladio edition from 1698

The theater motif , also known as the theater wall motif or tabularium motif , is the most important elevation scheme of classical Roman and modern architecture. In the theater motif, a column- entablature (colonnade) is placed in front of a pillar- arch position (arcade). The pillars and arches are part of the structure of the building, while the pillars and entablature only have an optically structured and self-supporting function. The term is derived from the original use of the motif for the structure of the outer walls of Roman theaters and amphitheaters , for example the Marcellus Theater or the Colosseum in Rome. The theatrical motif is related, but not to be confused with the triumphal arch motif , which also operates with the combination of arch and column position.

Exterior view of the Colosseum with a theatrical structure

This architectural element was named Tabulariummotiv from the Tabularium in Rome (built in 80 BC), where this design appears for the first time. It represented an extension of the structuring options of Greek-ancient architecture and offered the possibility of structuring massive walls with the means of the classical-Greek column order . While the building structure consists of the pillar arcade, the column order is used to decorate and structure the building.

In connection with the theater wall motif, columns of different orders are usually stacked on top of one another. As a rule, the following hierarchy applies to the sequence of orders (from bottom to top): Tuscan or Doric , Ionic , Corinthian and composite . Important early modern examples of this design principle known as superposition are the main facades of the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence and the Palazzo Barberini in Rome.

Theater of Marcellus, Rome, outline of the facade

The theatrical motif found widespread use as a structuring element for modern architecture through the Renaissance treatises, which were based on Roman antiquity. For Alberti the two-layer model of the theater motif is closely related to his definition of beauty (pulchritudo) and ornament (ornamentum). The masonry, to which the pillar-arch position belongs, is, according to Alberti, the real bearer of beauty. It is composed of wall panels that are perforated by masonry markings made up of pillars and arches.

Since the state of absolute beauty cannot be achieved in reality, the building needs the externally applied ornament in order to underline its advantages and to cover up its weaknesses. The most valuable building block of the ornament is the column with the associated entablature. The combination of the spheres of beauty and ornament results in column-entablature positions as an ornament layer in front of pillar-arch positions, as is exemplarily demonstrated in the theater motif.

In Serlio's case , the system of the arcature structure is presented in the fourth book in the chapter on the Tuscan order by means of faded columns and entablature positions. After the systematic introduction, Serlio presents a wide range of possible uses for the theater motif in the graphics for the other orders.

In the following, graphic-based treatises by Palladio , Vincenzo Scamozzi and Vignola , in addition to the pure column and entablature of Greek architecture, a properly organized theater motif is always shown as a model for the structure of a closed wall.

More illustrations

  • Doric order

  • Ionic order

  • Corinthian order

  • Composite order

Web links

  • Tabularium motif . In: Architecture of the Renaissance and Baroque. Ulrich Fürst, Institute for Art History Munich

literature

  • Werner Müller, Gunther Vogel: dtv atlas on architecture. 4th ed. Vol. 1, Munich 1982, pp. 208-209.