Note 185 — THE ROOF

The word corbel, French corbeille, means literally a large flat basket. It is curious to note how the word obtains its present use in architecture. After the destruction of the city of Caryæ in Arcadia by the Greeks, Praxiteles, and other Athenian artists, employed female figures, instead of columns, in architecture, to commemorate the disgrace of the Caryatides, or women of Caryæ (see Dr. Smith's Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Caryatis). These figures were always represented with corbels or baskets on their heads. The basket, being thus placed between the head of the figure and the roof, was that which immediately supported the roof. Hence those projecting pieces of stone or wood which support the roofs of our churches, as well as other buildings, have received the name of corbels. Caryatides may be seen on the north and south sides of New St. Pancras Church, London—a church which externally possesses all the appearances of a heathen temple, and few of a Christian church.