Maison Carree; France, Nimes; approx. B.C.19

• East facade.

• Those pilasters shows the evolution or degeneration from the structural substance to the graphical design.
  
  
• A pseudoperipteros temple, such as Mason Carre, can be considered as a transformation of a peristylos style which is one of the basic style of the Greek regular temple.
  A peristylos temple has a cella whose four sides are surrounded by columns.
  The inner space of temples became more important in Roman age than Greek age so that the peristylos was realized on the wall of bigger cella as pilasters for expressing and keeping of the formality of the Greek regular temple.
  
  
• Thus the process of keeping and transforming the formality of the style, such as independent column to pilaster, pilaster to image of column, is performed as the one of the technique of expression in Roman age.
  A good example of such metamorphosis to abstract is seen in Pantheon. This way of expression became common in Renaissance and of course in Modern age.

• South facade.

Photo: Yasuhiko Nishigaki

[No.1] Whole view
[No.2] Front
[No.3] Facade, back
[No.4] East side, back
[No.5] Prostylos columns

Information provided by:
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hst/roma/carree3.html