capital of the
Erechtheion, Athens, with rotated volute at the corner The orders, structural systems for organising component parts, played a crucial role in the Greeks' search for perfection of ratio and proportion. The Greeks and Romans distinguished three
classical orders of architecture, the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders; each had different types of capitals atop the columns of their
hypostyle and
trabeate monumental buildings. Throughout the
Mediterranean Basin, the
Near East, and the wider
Hellenistic world including the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the
Indo-Greek Kingdom, numerous variations on these and other designs of capitals co-existed with the regular classical orders. The only architectural treatise of classical antiquity to survive is by the 1st-century BC Roman architect
Vitruvius, who discussed the different proportions of each of these orders and made recommendations for how the column capitals of each order were to be constructed and in what proportions. In the
Roman world and within the
Roman Empire, the Tuscan order was employed, originally from Italy and with a capital similar to Greek Doric capitals, while the
Roman imperial period saw the emergence of the
Composite order, with a hybrid capital developed from Ionic and Corinthian elements. The Tuscan and Corinthian columns were counted among the classical canon of orders by the architects of
Renaissance architecture and
Neoclassical architecture.
Greek Doric capital of the
Parthenon, in a book named
A Handbook of Architectural Styles, written in 1898 The
Doric capital is the simplest of the five
Classical orders: it consists of the
abacus above an
ovolo molding, with an
astragal collar set below. It was developed in the lands occupied by the
Dorians, one of the two principal divisions of the Greek race. It became the preferred style of the Greek mainland and the western colonies (southern Italy and
Sicily). In the
Temple of Apollo, Syracuse (c. 700 BC), the
echinus moulding has become a more definite form: this in the
Parthenon reaches its culmination, where the convexity is at the top and bottom with a delicate uniting curve. The sloping side of the echinus becomes flatter in the later examples, and in the
Colosseum at
Rome forms a quarter round (see
Doric order). In versions where the
frieze and other elements are simpler the same form of capital is described as being in the
Tuscan order. Doric reached its peak in the mid-5th century BC, and was one of the orders accepted by the Romans. Its characteristics are masculinity, strength and solidity. The Doric capital consists of a cushion-like convex moulding known as an echinus, and a square slab termed an abacus.
Ionic In the
Ionic capital, spirally coiled volutes are inserted between the abacus and the ovolo. This order appears to have been developed contemporaneously with the Doric, though it did not come into common usage and take its final shape until the mid-5th century BC. The style prevailed in Ionian lands, centred on the coast of
Asia Minor and
Aegean islands. The order's form was far less set than the Doric, with local variations persisting for many decades. In the Ionic capitals of the archaic
Temple of Artemis at
Ephesus (560 BC) the width of the abacus is twice that of its depth, consequently the earliest Ionic capital known was virtually a bracket capital. A century later, in the temple on the
Ilissus, the abacus has become square (See the more complete discussion at
Ionic order). According to the Roman architect
Vitruvius, the Ionic order's main characteristics were beauty, femininity, and slenderness, derived from its basis on the proportion of a woman. The volutes of an Ionic capital rest on an echinus, almost invariably carved with egg-and-dart. Above the scrolls was an abacus, more shallow than that in Doric examples, and again ornamented with egg-and-dart.
Corinthian It has been suggested that the foliage of the Greek
Corinthian capital was based on the
Acanthus spinosus, that of the Roman on the
Acanthus mollis. Not all architectural foliage is as realistic as Isaac Ware's (
illustration, right) however. The leaves are generally carved in two "ranks" or bands, like one leafy cup set within another. The Corinthian capitals from the Tholos of
Epidaurus (400 BC) illustrate the transition between the earlier Greek capital, as at
Bassae, and the Roman version that Renaissance and modern architects inherited and refined (See the more complete discussion at
Corinthian order). In
Roman architectural practice, capitals are briefly treated in their proper context among the detailing proper to each of the "
Orders", in the only complete architectural textbook to have survived from classical times, the , by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, better known as
Vitruvius, dedicated to the emperor
Augustus. The various orders are discussed in Vitruvius' books iii and iv. Vitruvius describes Roman practice in a practical fashion. He gives some tales about the invention of each of the orders, but he does not give a hard and fast set of canonical rules for the execution of capitals. Two further, specifically Roman orders of architecture have their characteristic capitals, the sturdy and primitive
Tuscan capitals, typically used in military buildings, similar to Greek Doric, but with fewer small moldings in its profile, and the invented
Composite capitals not even mentioned by Vitruvius, which combined Ionic volutes and Corinthian acanthus capitals, in an order that was otherwise quite similar in proportions to the Corinthian, itself an order that Romans employed much more often than Greeks. The increasing adoption of Composite capitals signalled a trend towards freer, more inventive (and often more coarsely carved) capitals in
Late Antiquity.
Anta The
anta capital is not a capital which is set on top of column, but rather on top of an
anta, a structural post integrated into the frontal end of a wall, such as the front of the side wall of a temple. The top of an anta is often highly decorated, usually with bands of floral motifs. The designs often respond to an order of columns, but usually with a different set of design principles. In order not to protrude excessively from the wall surface, these structures tend to have a rather flat surface, forming brick-shaped capitals, called "anta capitals". Anta capitals are known from the time of the Doric order. An anta capital can sometimes be qualified as a "sofa" capital or a "sofa anta capital" when the sides of the capital broaden upward, in a shape reminiscent of a couch or
sofa. of
pegasi, from the interior of the
cella of the
Temple of Mars Ultor in the
Forum of Augustus, now in the
Museo dei Fori Imperiali, Rome Anta capitals are sometimes hard to distinguish from
pilaster capitals, which are rather decorative, and do not have the same structural role as anta capitals.
Roman Tuscan The origins of the
Tuscan order lie with the Etruscans and are found on their tombs. Although the Romans perceived it as especially Italianate, the
Tuscan capital found on Roman monuments is in fact closer to the Greek Doric order than to Etruscan examples, its capital being nearby identical with the Doric.
Composite The Romans invented the
Composite order by uniting the Corinthian order with the Ionic capital, possibly as early as
Augustus's reign. In many versions the Composite order volutes are larger, however, and there is generally some ornament placed centrally between the volutes. Despite this origin, very many
Composite capitals in fact treat the two volutes as different elements, each springing from one side of their leafy base. In this, and in having a separate ornament between them, they resemble the
Archaic Greek Aeolic order, though this seems not to have been the route of their development in early
Imperial Rome. Equally, where the Greek Ionic volute is usually shown from the side as a single unit of unchanged width between the front and back of the column, the Composite volutes are normally treated as four different thinner units, one at each corner of the capital, projecting at some 45° to the façade.
Indian The Lion Capital of Ashoka (Saranath, near
Varanasi,
Uttar Pradesh, India) The Lion Capital of Ashoka is an iconic capital which consists of four
Asiatic lions standing back to back, on an elaborate base that includes other animals. A graphic representation of it was adopted as the official
Emblem of India in 1950. This powerfully carved lion capital from
Sarnath stood a top a pillar bearing the edicts of the emperor
Ashoka. Like most of Ashoka's capitals, it is brilliantly polished. Located at the site of Buddha's first sermon and the formation of the Buddhist order, it carried imperial and Buddhist symbols, reflecting the universal authority of both the emperor's and the Buddha's words. The capital today serves as the emblem of the Republic of
India. Minus the
inverted bell-shaped
lotus flower, this has been adopted as the
National Emblem of India, seen from another angle, showing the horse on the left and the bull on the right of the
Ashoka Chakra in the circular base on which the four
Indian lions are standing back to back. On the side shown here there are the bull and elephant; a lion occupies the other place. The wheel "Ashoka Chakra" from its base has been placed onto the centre of the
National Flag of India Indo-Ionic capitals The
Pataliputra capital is a monumental rectangular capital with
volutes designs, that was discovered in the palace ruins of the ancient
Mauryan Empire capital city of
Pataliputra (modern
Patna, northeastern
India). It is dated to the 3rd century BC. The top is made of a band of
rosettes, eleven in total for the fronts and four for the sides. Below that is a band of
bead and reel pattern, then under it a band of waves, generally right-to-left, except for the back where they are left-to-right. Further below is a band of
egg-and-dart pattern, with eleven "tongues" or "eggs" on the front, and only seven on the back. Below appears the main motif, a
flame palmette, growing among pebbles. The
Sarnath capital is a pillar capital, sometimes also described as a "stone bracket", discovered in the archaeological excavations at the ancient
Buddhist site of
Sarnath. The pillar displays
Ionic volutes and
palmettes. It has been variously dated from the 3rd century BCE during the
Mauryan Empire period, to the 1st century BCE, during the
Sunga Empire period.
Indo-Corinthian capitals , in the centre of a Corinthian capital, made during the ancient
Gandhara state, between the 1st to the 3rd century AD, found at
Jamal Garhi Some capitals with strong Greek and Persian influence have been found in northeastern India in the
Maurya Empire palace of
Pataliputra, dating to the 4th–3rd century BC. Examples such as the
Pataliputra capital belong to the
Ionic order rather than the later
Corinthian order. They are witness to relations between India and the West from that early time.
Indo-Corinthian capitals correspond to the much more abundant Corinthian-style capitals crowning columns or pilasters, which can be found in the northwestern
Indian subcontinent, particularly in
Gandhara, and usually combine
Hellenistic and
Indian elements. These capitals are typically dated to the first century BC, and constitute important elements of
Greco-Buddhist art. The Classical design was often adapted, usually taking a more elongated form, and sometimes being combined with scrolls, generally within the context of Buddhist
stupas and
temples. Indo-Corinthian capitals also incorporated figures of the
Buddha or
Bodhisattvas, usually as central figures surrounded by, and often under the shade of, the luxurious foliage of Corinthian designs. ==Late Antiquity==