ENGAGED

COLUMN  , in architecture, a form of column, sometimes defined as semi or three-quarter detached according to its projection; the term implies that the column is partly attached to a pier or wall . It is rarely found in Greek work, and then only in exceptional cases, but it exists in profusion in Roman architecture . In the temples it is attached to the cella walls . repeating the columns of the peristyle, and in the theatres and amphitheatres, where they subdivided the arched openings: in all these cases engaged columns are utilized as a decorative feature, and as a rule the same proportions are maintained as if they had been isolated columns . In Romanesque work the classic proportions are no longer adhered to; the engaged column, attached to the piers, has always a special function to perform, either to support subsidiary arches, or, raised to the vault, to carry its transverse or diagonal ribs . The same constructional object is followed in the earlier Gothic styles, in which they become merged into the mouldings . Being virtually always ready made, so far as their design is concerned, they were much affected by the Italian revivalists .