Professor Butter Beard and the Column from the Temple of Artemis
“Consider the momentous event in architecture when the wall parted and the column became.”
- Louis Kahn, Estonian-born American architect
There are certain entranceways that continue to take my breath away: The narrow strip of land that joins the headland to the mainland, along which a steep path leads up to the gatehouse of Dunnottar Castle, the ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky bluff on the north-eastern coast of Scotland. The overpowering waves of smokey incense dancing with the Renaissance chords being sung by the choir as you enter Notre-Dame de Paris. And the tinkling bell at sunrise as you open the front door of the chocolatier’s shop on Easter morning in Bruges.
Closer to home, you walk up the majestic staircase of 1000 Fifth Avenue into the grand rotunda modelled after the Baths of Caracalla, and immediately turn left. Along the pathway you encounter old friends and new including terracotta funerary kraters, kouroi frozen in time, snarling guardian lions, and frightening warriors alongside singing musicians. But directly ahead, you focus on the ancient beacon welcoming you in the heavenly atrium of Greek and Roman Art.
Standing before you is the Met’s “Column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis,” a 1926 gift to the museum from the American Society for the Excavation of Sardis. This section of a fluted Ionic column originally stood over fifty-eight feet high in its original location as a structural support for the Temple of Artemis located in Sardis, the capitol of Lydia (now Turkey). The delicate foliate carving on the capital is considered unique among extant capitals from the temple, and the torus (the foliated cushion base), with its vegetal scale-like pattern, is also exceptionally elaborate. Your mind can easily extend the capital towards the museum’s roof like Jack’s beanstalk growing overnight extending an invitation to climb upward into the land of the ancient gods.
Not much is known about the individuals who designed and constructed the temple in the early third century BCE, but modern historians believe a Greek civic or religious body engaged the architect, who participated in every aspect of construction. So, in that case, it is most likely that some civic or religious organization commissioned the construction and Greek architects and the craftsmen, whether they were brought in from Athens or were residents of Sardis, began the construction the temple. The columns were hand-carved out of local marble, which was most likely found in the quarries that were in the foothills of Mt. Tmolus. These master craftsmen magically fashioned the stones so expertly that they fit perfectly together without the need for any mortar.
The temple was never fully completed but was originally oriented west with a deep front porch and a single cella (interior room) devoted to the goddess Artemis. In Greek cult and myth, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo, a virgin goddess of the hunt, the wilderness and the moon, who, despite being a goddess of childbirth was nevertheless known for her chastity. In later times, in some places, she was identified with Selene, the personification of the Moon. Artemis is often depicted roaming the forests of Greece, attended by her large entourage, mostly made up of nymphs, some mortals, and hunters. The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent.
The temple is thought to have fallen out of use after the emperor Theodosius I, who was a Christian, passed a law in 391 CE banning all forms of pagan cult. By the end of the 6th century CE, large sections were demolished, and the marble was broken up and heated to make lime for mortar. When Cyriacus of Ancona visited Sardis in April 1444, only fourteen complete columns from the temple were still standing, and by the early 19th century, only two remained. Luckily for us, Artemis still breathed through the marble enough to extend the temple’s journey as a triumphant beacon into one of the most cherished galleries in the world.
The delicious curves of the column’s Ionic capital inspired me to bake rugelach as my early morning gifts to the local farmers as they stocked their tented market booths this morning with the best of autumn’s produce. I spread a thin layer of dark chocolate/hazelnut butter and toasted hazelnuts onto an extremely delicate cream cheese pastry and rolled the cookies into crescents, brushing them with a kiss of heavy cream and sparkling sugar before baking. The cookies were still warm as the farmers enjoyed their first bites, encouraging smiles as they greeted their hungry customers entering the market. Another grand entrance to savor.
Chocolate Hazelnut Rugelach
32 Rugelach
8 ounces cream cheese (full fat), room temperature
8 ounces unsalted butter (two sticks), room temperature
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
The zest of one lemon
The juice of ½ a lemon
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp fine sea salt
1 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread, room temperature
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and cooled, roughly chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
Granulated sugar to sprinkle before baking
1) In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour and the fine sea salt.
2) Using a standing mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and cream cheese. Add the confectioner’s sugar and mix to evenly combine. Add the lemon zest, juice and vanilla paste and mix to evenly combine. Add the dry mix and mix just until the dough comes together into a small ball. Divide the ball into two disks, wrap each in plastic and then refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
3) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4) On a well-floured surface, roll the first disk into a circle roughly 1/8” thick. Evenly spread ½ cup of the chocolate-hazelnut spread onto the dough and then sprinkle with half the hazelnuts. Lightly press the nuts into the chocolate-hazelnut spread. Use a bench scraper, or chef knife, to cut the dough into sixteen even triangles. Roll each triangle, starting at the wide end, tucking the end tip under the cookies.
5) Place the sixteen rugelach on one of the baking sheets. Brush the top with a small amount of heavy cream and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Do the same with the second disc of dough and place them on the second pan.
6) Place the pans in the refrigerator for ten minutes before baking.
7) Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown and the tops are dry and firm. Cool on a wire rack for five minutes, then remove the cookies from the sheet pan and replace them on the wire racks to fully cool.
