Athena Review Image Archive ™
Baalbek, Temple of Bacchus, fluted columns in cella (1892 photo)
Baalbek, Temple of Bacchus, columns in cella (photo: Frauberger 1892 fig.9)
This 1892 photo by Heinrich Frauberger shows the the fluted Corinthian columns engaged to the wall in the interior of the cella of the Temple of Bacchus. The spatial distribution of the columns effectively divides the wall into two stories or tiers of decorated niches. The lower niche has arched pediments and the upper has triangular ones. These niches originally held sculptures and busts. The foliage effect of the Corinthian capitals is also enhanced by incised blocks and other architectural elements joined to each of them from above.
The
temple, built by the Romans in the second century AD, is
relatively well preserved. This photo was published in Frauberger's 1892 book entitled The Acropolis at Baalbek, and is included in the Goodyear Archive of the Brooklyn Museum as image 47.
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