The structure of an entablature varies with the
orders of architecture. In each order, the proportions of the subdivisions (architrave, frieze, cornice) are defined by the proportions of the column. In Roman and
Renaissance interpretations, it is usually approximately a quarter of the height of the column. Variants of entablature that do not fit these models are usually derived from them.
Doric In the pure classical
Doric order entablature is simple. The architrave, the lowest band, is split, from bottom to top, into the
guttae, the
regulae, and the
taenia. The frieze is dominated by the
triglyphs, vertically channelled tablets, separated by
metopes, which may or may not be decorated. The triglyphs sit on top of the taenia, a flat, thin, horizontal protrusion, and are finished at the bottom by decoration (often ornate) of 'drops' called guttae, which belong to the top of the architrave. The top of the triglyphs meet the protrusion of the cornice from the entablature. The underside of this protrusion is decorated with
mutules, tablets that are typically finished with guttae. The cornice is split into the
soffit, the corona, and the
cymatium. The soffit is simply the exposed underside. The corona and the cymatium are the principal parts of the cornice.
Ionic The
Ionic order of entablature adds the
fascia in the architrave, which are flat horizontal protrusions, and the
dentils under the cornice, which are tooth-like rectangular block moldings.
Corinthian The
Corinthian order adds a far more ornate cornice, divided, from bottom to top, into the
cyma reversa, the dentils, the
ovolo, the
modillions, the fascia, and the
cyma recta. The modillions are ornate brackets, similar in use to dentils, but often in the shape of
acanthus leaves. The frieze is sometimes omitted—for example, on the portico of the caryatides of the
Erechtheum—and probably did not exist as a structure in the
temple of Diana at Ephesus. Neither is it found in the Lycian tombs, which are reproductions in the rock of timber structures based on early Ionian work. The use of the entablature, irrespective of columns, appeared after the Renaissance. ==See also==