CORINTHIAN ORDER

GROUP 4

CORINTHIAN ORDER
The name "Corinthian" is derived from the ancient
Greek city of Corinth
With its offshoot the Composite, is stated to be the most
ornate (decorative) of the orders, characterized by
slender fluted columns and elaborate capitals
decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls.

the last developed of the three principal classical orders

of ancient Greek and Roman architecture.

HISTORY
It is related that the original discovery of this form of capital was as follows. A freeborn
maiden of Corinth, just of marriageable age, was attacked by an illness and passed
away. After her burial, her nurse, collecting a few little things which used to give the girl
pleasure while she was alive, put them in a basket, carried it to the tomb, and laid it on
top thereof, covering it with a roof-tile so that the things might last longer in the open
air. This basket happened to be placed just above the root of an acanthus.
The acanthus root, pressed down meanwhile though it was by the weight, when
springtime came round put forth leaves and stalks in the middle, and the stalks,
growing up along the sides of the basket, and pressed out by the corners of the tile
through the compulsion of its weight, were forced to bend into volutes at the outer
edges.

HISTORY
Just then Callimachus passed
by this tomb and observed the
basket with the tender young
leaves growing round it.
Delighted with the novel style
and form, he built some
columns after that pattern for
the Corinthians, determined
their symmetrical proportions,
and established from that time
forth the rules to be followed
in finished works of the
Corinthian order Vitruvius.

The origin of the Corinthian Order, illustrated in

Claude Perrault's Vitruvius, 1684

HISTORY
The oldest known Corinthian column was found in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at
Bassae in Arcadia, built by the architect Iktinos (who with Kallikrates designed the
Parthenon) and dated to circa 420 BC..

PARTS

PARTS
torus - Molding in the shape of a large ring, located at the base of the column.
Modillion - Ornamental motif placed under the corona of the cornice.
dentil - Rectangular ornament in relief.
rosette - Ornamental motif inspired by a plant and used to decorate the capital.
volute - Ornament sculpted in spirals.
acanthus - Decorative pattern characterized by a series of carved leaves whose
rounded top is in relief.
astragal - Molding that separates the capital of the column from the shaft.

flute - Vertical groove along the length of the column.

 fillet - Flat surface between the flutes.

middle torus - Molding separating two tori.
scotia - Concave molding located at the base
of the column.
Crepidoma - Base upon which the building
rests; it is composed of several levels.
base - Lower part of the column, on which the
shaft rests.
Column - Circular pillar supporting the
entablature; it is composed of three parts: the
base, the shaft and the capital.
Shaft - Fluted part of the column, located
between the base and the capital.

PARTS
Capital - Top of the column
supporting the entablature.
Architrave - Lower section of the
entablature, directly on top of the
capitals of the columns.
Entablature - Section composed of the
architrave, the frieze and the cornice;
it supports the pediment.
Pediment - Triangular section above
the entablature.

EXAMPLES

Greece
Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, Athens

Temple of Olympian Zeus (Athens)

Rome

Pantheon, Rome (illustration)

Temple of Mars Ultor

France

Maison Carre, Nimes

The July Column, Paris

Portugal

Renaissance and Baroque

Templo de Diana, vora

Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts

St. La Salle Hall, Manila

United States Capitol

Syria

Palmyra

Ukraine

Great Lavra Belltower

United Kingdom

University College London

United States of America

United States Supreme Court Building

Germany

The Reichstag, Berlin

Jordan

Jarash

Jabal al-Qal'a, Amman