The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal

classical order An order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform. Coming down to the present from Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civiliz ...

s of

Ancient Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greeks, or Hellenes, whose Ancient Greece, culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Asia Minor, Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC ...

and

Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often con ...

. The other two are the

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

, which was the earliest, followed by the

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

. In Ancient Greek architecture, the Corinthian order follows the Ionic in almost all respects, other than the capitals of the columns, though this changed in Roman architecture. A Corinthian capital may be seen as an enriched development of the Ionic capital, though one may have to look closely at a Corinthian capital to see the Ionic

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an ...

s ("helices"), at the corners, perhaps reduced in size and importance, scrolling out above the two ranks of stylized acanthus leaves and stalks ("cauliculi" or ''caulicoles''), eight in all, and to notice that smaller volutes scroll inwards to meet each other on each side. The leaves may be quite stiff, schematic and dry, or they may be extravagantly drilled and undercut, naturalistic and spiky. The flat

abacus An abacus ( abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a hand-operated calculating tool which was used from ancient times in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, until the adoption of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. A ...

at the top of the capital has a concave curve on each face, and usually a single flower ("rosette") projecting from the leaves below overlaps it on each face. When

classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

was revived during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, two more orders were added to the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

: the

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but wit ...

and the

Composite order The Composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order.Henig, Martin (ed.), ''A Handbook of Roman Art'', p. 50, Phaidon, 1983, In many versions the composite o ...

, known in Roman times, but regarded as a grand imperial variant of the Corinthian. The Corinthian has fluted

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s and elaborate capitals decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls. There are many variations. The name ''Corinthian'' is derived from the ancient Greek city of

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

, although it was probably invented in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

.Summerson, 124

Description

Greek Corinthian order

The Corinthian order is named for the Greek city-state of

, to which it was connected in the period. However, according to the architectural historian

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

, the column was created by the sculptor

Callimachus Callimachus (; ; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works, most of which ...

, probably an Athenian, who drew acanthus leaves growing around a votive basket of toys, with a slab on top, on the grave of a Corinthian girl. Its earliest use can be traced back to the Late Classical Period (430–323 BC). The earliest Corinthian capitals, already in fragments and now lost, were found in Bassae in 1811–12; they are dated around 420 BC, and are in a temple of Apollo otherwise using the Ionic. There were three of them, carrying the frieze across the far end of the cella, which was open to the adytum. The Corinthian was probably devised to solve the awkwardness the Ionic capital created at corners by having clear and distinct front or back and side-on faces, a problem only finally solved by

Vincenzo Scamozzi Vincenzo Scamozzi (2 September 1548 – 7 August 1616) was an Italians, Italian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century. He was perhaps the most importan ...

in the 16th century. A simplified late version of the Greek Corinthian capital is often known as the "Tower of the Winds Corinthian" after its use on the porches of the

Tower of the Winds The Tower of the Winds, known as the in Greek, and by #Names, other names, is an octagonal Pentelic marble tower in the Roman Agora in Athens, named after the eight large reliefs of wind gods around its top. Its date is uncertain, but was compl ...

in Athens (about 50 BC). There is a single row of acanthus leaves at the bottom of the capital, with a row of "tall, narrow leaves" behind. These cling tightly to the swelling shaft, and are sometimes described as "lotus" leaves, as well as the vague "water-leaves" and palm leaves; their similarity to leaf forms on many ancient Egyptian capitals has been remarked on. The form is usually found in smaller columns, both ancient and modern.

Roman Corinthian order

The style developed its own model in Roman practice, following precedents set by the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus (). It was employed in southern Gaul at the

Maison Carrée Maison (French for "house") may refer to: People * Edna Maison (1892–1946), American silent-film actress * Jérémy Maison (born 1993), French cyclist * Leonard Maison, New York state senator 1834–1837 * Nicolas Joseph Maison (1771–1840), M ...

, Nîmes and at the comparable Temple of Augustus and Livia at Vienne. Other prime examples noted by Mark Wilson Jones are the lower order of the Basilica Ulpia and the Arch of Trajan at

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

(both of the reign of

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

, 98–117 AD), the Column of Phocas (re-erected in

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

but 2nd century in origin), and the Temple of Bacchus at

Baalbek Baalbek (; ; ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...

(). Proportion is a defining characteristic of the Corinthian order: the "coherent integration of dimensions and ratios in accordance with the principles of ''symmetria''" are noted by Mark Wilson Jones, who finds that the ratio of total column height to column-shaft height is in a 6:5 ratio, so that, secondarily, the full height of column with capital is often a multiple of 6

Roman feet The units of measurement of ancient Rome were generally consistent and well documented. Length The basic unit of Roman linear measurement was the ''pes'' (plural: ''pedes'') or Roman foot. Investigation of its relation to the English foot goes ...

while the column height itself is a multiple of 5. In its proportions, the Corinthian column is similar to the Ionic column, though it is more slender, and stands apart by its distinctive carved capital. The

upon the capital has concave sides to conform to the outscrolling corners of the capital, and it may have a rosette at the center of each side. Corinthian columns were erected on the top level of the Roman

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

, holding up the least weight, and also having the slenderest ratio of thickness to height. Their height to width ratio is about 10:1. One variant is the Tivoli order, found at the Temple of Vesta, Tivoli. The Tivoli order's Corinthian capital has two rows of acanthus leaves and its abacus is decorated with oversize fleurons in the form of hibiscus flowers with pronounced spiral pistils. The column flutes have flat tops. The frieze exhibits fruit

festoon A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicti ...

s suspended between bucrania. Above each festoon has a rosette over its center. The cornice does not have modillions.

Gandharan capitals

Indo-Corinthian capitals are capitals crowning

s or

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s, which can be found in the northwestern

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, and usually combine

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n elements. These capitals are typically dated to the 1st centuries of our era, and constitute important elements of

Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

. 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 Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

s, usually as central figures surrounded, and often in the shade, of the luxurious foliage of Corinthian designs.

Byzantine Empire and medieval Europe

Though the term "Corinthian" is reserved for columns and capitals that adhere fairly closely to one of the classical versions, vegetal decoration to capitals continued to be extremely common in

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Cons ...

and the various styles of the European

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, from

Carolingian architecture Carolingian architecture is the style of north European Pre-Romanesque architecture belonging to the period of the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries, when the Carolingian dynasty dominated west European politics. It wa ...

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

and

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

. There was considerable freedom in the details and the relationship between column (generally not fluted) and capital. Many types of plant were represented, sometimes realistically, as in the capitals in the

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster_(church), Minster, strictly since 1884 Southwell Cathedral, and formally the Cathedral and Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. The cathedral is the s ...

in England.

Renaissance Corinthian order

During the first flush of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

, the Florentine architectural theorist Francesco di Giorgio expressed the human analogies that writers who followed Vitruvius often associated with the human form, in squared drawings he made of the Corinthian capital overlaid with human heads, to show the proportions common to both. The Corinthian

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

is divided in two or three sections, which may be equal, or may bear interesting proportional relationships, to one with another. Above the plain, unadorned architrave lies the

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

, which may be richly carved with a continuous design or left plain, as at the U.S. Capitol extension. At the Capitol the proportions of architrave to frieze are exactly 1:1. Above that, the profiles of the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

mouldings are like those of the Ionic order. If the cornice is very deep, it may be supported by brackets or modillions, which are ornamental brackets used in a series under a cornice. The Corinthian column is almost always fluted, and the flutes of a Corinthian column may be enriched. They may be filleted, with rods nestled within the hollow flutes, or stop-fluted, with the rods rising a third of the way, to where the entasis begins. In French, these are called ''chandelles'' and sometimes terminate in carved wisps of flame, or with bellflowers. Alternatively, beading or chains of husks may take the place of the fillets in the fluting, Corinthian being the most flexible of the orders, with more opportunities for variation. Elaborating upon an offhand remark when Vitruvius accounted for the origin of its acanthus capital, it became a commonplace to identify the Corinthian column with the slender figure of a young girl; in this mode the classifying French painter

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

wrote to his friend Fréart de Chantelou in 1642:

The beautiful girls whom you will have seen in
Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
will not, I am sure, have delighted your spirit any less than the beautiful columns of Maison Carrée for the one is no more than an old copy of the other.

Sir William Chambers __NOTOC__ Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-British architect. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, the Gold State Coach and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy. ...

expressed the conventional comparison with the Doric order:

The proportions of the orders were by the ancients formed on those of the human body, and consequently, it could not be their intention to make a Corinthian column, which, as Vitruvius observes, is to represent the delicacy of a young girl, as thick and much taller than a Doric one, which is designed to represent the bulk and vigour of a muscular full grown man.

History

The oldest known example of a Corinthian column is in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae in Arcadia, c. 450–420 BC. It is not part of the order of the temple itself, which has a Doric

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

surrounding the temple and an Ionic order within the

cella In Classical architecture, a or naos () is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings: of a hermit's or monk's cell, and (since the 17th century) of a biological cell ...

enclosure. A single Corinthian column stands free, centered within the cella. This is a mysterious feature, and archaeologists debate what this shows: some state that it is simply an example of a

votive column A votive column (also votive pillar) is the combination of a column (pillar) and a votive image. The presence of columns supporting votive sculptures in Ancient Greek temples is well attested since at least the Archaic period. The oldest known ...

. A few examples of Corinthian columns in Greece during the next century are all used ''inside'' temples. A more famous example, and the first documented use of the Corinthian order on the exterior of a structure, is the circular Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, erected c. 334 BC. A Corinthian capital carefully buried in antiquity in the foundations of the circular tholos at

Epidaurus Epidaurus () was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: ''Palaia Epidavros'' and ''Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epi ...

was recovered during modern archaeological campaigns. Its enigmatic presence and preservation have been explained as a sculptor's model for stonemasons to follow in erecting the temple dedicated to

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

. The architectural design of the building was credited in antiquity to the sculptor Polykleitos the Younger, son of the Classical Greek sculptor

Polykleitos Polykleitos (; ) was an ancient Greek sculptor, active in the 5th century BCE. Alongside the Athenian sculptors Pheidias, Myron and Praxiteles, he is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity. The 4th century B ...

the Elder. The temple was erected in the 4th century BC. These capitals, in one of the most-visited sacred sites of Greece, influenced later Hellenistic and Roman designs for the Corinthian order. The concave sides of the abacus meet at a sharp keel edge, easily damaged, which in later and post-Renaissance practice has generally been replaced by a canted corner. Behind the scrolls the spreading cylindrical form of the central shaft is plainly visible. Much later, the Roman writer

() related that the Corinthian order had been invented by

, a Greek architect and sculptor who was inspired by the sight of a votive basket that had been left on the grave of a young girl. A few of her toys were in it, and a square tile had been placed over the basket, to protect them from the weather. An acanthus plant had grown through the woven basket, mixing its spiny, deeply cut leaves with the weave of the basket.

Claude Perrault Claude Perrault (; 25 September 1613 – 9 October 1688) was a French physician and amateur architect, best known for his participation in the design of the east façade of the Louvre in Paris.astragal An astragal is a Moulding (decorative), moulding profile composed of a half-round surface surrounded by two flat planes (Annulet (architecture), fillets). An astragal is sometimes referred to as a miniature torus. It can be an architecture, a ...

molding or a banding that forms the base of the capital, recalling the base of the legendary basket. Most buildings (and most clients) are satisfied with just two orders. When orders are superposed one above another, as they are at the

, the natural progression is from sturdiest and plainest (Doric) at the bottom, to slenderest and richest (Corinthian) at the top. The Colosseum's topmost tier has an unusual order that came to be known as the

during the 16th century. The mid-16th-century Italians, especially

Sebastiano Serlio Sebastiano Serlio (6 September 1475 – c. 1554) was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau. Serlio helped canonize the classical orders of architecture in his influential treatise ...

and Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola, who established a canonic version of the orders, thought they detected a "Composite order", combining the volutes of the Ionic with the foliage of the Corinthian, but in Roman practice volutes were almost always present. In Romanesque and

, where the Classical system had been replaced by a new aesthetic composed of arched vaults springing from columns, the Corinthian capital was still retained. It might be severely plain, as in the typical

Cistercian architecture Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was heavily influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), who believed that churches should avoid ...

, which encouraged no distraction from liturgy and ascetic contemplation, or in other contexts it could be treated to numerous fanciful variations, even on the capitals of a series of columns or colonettes within the same system. During the 16th century, a sequence of engravings of the orders in architectural treatises helped standardize their details within rigid limits: Sebastiano Serlio; the '' Regola delli cinque ordini'' of Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507–1573); '' I quattro libri dell'architettura'' of

Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be on ...

, and Vincenzo Scamozzi's ''L'idea dell'architettura universale'', were followed in the 17th century by French treatises with further refined engraved models, such as Perrault's.

Notable examples

* Argentina ** Palace of the Argentine National Congress *Bangladesh ** Tajhat Palace, Rangpur * France **

, Nimes ** The July Column, Paris * Germany **

Palatine Chapel, Aachen The Palatine Chapel in Aachen is an early medieval chapel and remaining component of Charlemagne's Palace of Aachen in what is now Germany. Although the palace itself no longer exists, the chapel was preserved and now forms the central part of Aa ...

** The Reichstag, Berlin * Greece **

Choragic Monument of Lysicrates The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates near the Acropolis of Athens was erected by the ''Choregos (ancient Greece), choregos'' Lysicrates, a wealthy patron of musical performances in the Theater of Dionysus, to commemorate the prize in the dithyram ...

, Athens ** Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens * Israel **

Seat of the Universal House of Justice A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e "seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The foll ...

, Haifa * Italy **

Pantheon, Rome The Pantheon (, ; ,Although the spelling ''Pantheon'' is standard in English, only ''Pantheum'' is found in classical Latin; see, for example, Pliny, ''Natural History'36.38 "Agrippas Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis". See also ''Oxfor ...

** Temple of Mars Ultor **

Temple of Vesta, Tivoli The so-called Temple of Vesta is a small circular Roman temple (so a tholos (architecture), ''tholos'') in Tivoli, Italy, dating to the early 1st century BC. Its ruins are dramatically sited on the acropolis of the Etruscan and Roman city, overl ...

* Jordan ** Jarash ** Jabal al-Qal'a,

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

* Philippines ** St. La Salle Hall ** Don Enrique T. Yuchengco Hall ** Enrique M. Razon Sports Center * Portugal ** Templo de Diana,

Évora Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...

** Column of Pedro IV,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

* Romania ** New Saint George Church of Bucharest ** Royal Palace of Bucharest ** The Church from the Antim Monastery ** Central University Library of Bucharest ** Monteoru House * Russia **

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

Saint Isaac's Cathedral Saint Isaac's Cathedral () is a large architectural landmark cathedral that currently functions as a museum with occasional church services in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Gre ...

* Serbia ** House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia * Singapore ** Former City Hall *South Africa **

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

*Syria **

Bosra Bosra (), formerly Bostra () and officially called Busra al-Sham (), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region. Bosra is an ancient cit ...

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

: Temple of Jupiter **

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

: Colonnade of

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

* Ukraine ** Great Lavra Belltower (''fourth tier – 8 columns'') ** Independence Monument * United Kingdom **

Nelson's Column Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during whi ...

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

* United States of America **

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

United States Supreme Court Building The Supreme Court Building houses the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. The building serves as the official workplace of the Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice o ...

** City Hall-County Building (Chicago) ** The Rotunda,

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Gallery

File:Xanten reconstructed composite capital.jpg, Reconstructed Corinthian capital, with original

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

Temple of Apollo Epikourios, Bassae, details of a Corinthian isolated column in the interior.webp,

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

Corinthian columns in the Temple of Apollo at Bassae, Bassae, Greece, illustration by

Charles Robert Cockerell Charles Robert Cockerell (27 April 1788 – 17 September 1863) was an England, English architect, archaeologist, and writer. He studied architecture under Robert Smirke (architect), Robert Smirke. He went on an extended Grand Tour lasting sev ...

, unknown architect, 429-400 BC File:The external face of the capital, with the entablature, and half one of the tripods - Stuart James & Revett Nicholas - 1762.jpg, Ancient Greek Corinthian order of the

, Athens, 335 BC Corinthian capital, AM of Epidauros, 202545.jpg, Ancient Greek Corinthian capital from the tholos at

, Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus, Greece, said to have been designed by Polyclitus the Younger, 350 BC File:L'Olympieion (Athènes) (30776483926).jpg,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens, 174 BC–130 AD File:Les edifices antiques de Rome 1779 (138343015).jpg, Roman Corinthian capital of the

Temple of Vesta The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes (Latin ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#aedes, Aedes Vestae''; Italian language, Italian: ''Tempio di Vesta''), was an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy. It is located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the H ...

, Tivoli, Italy, with an oversized fleuron (flower) on the

, probably a stylized hibiscus blossom with spiral

pistil Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...

, compressed acanthus rows, and flutes squared at the top, rather than rounded as on a standard Corinthian column, 1st century BC Interior del Coliseo. 07.JPG, Roman Corinthian capital with ''gorgoneia'' from the Colosseum,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, 70–80 BC File:Fig 1 The capital and entablature of the portico before the door Fig 2 A fragment of the Dentells belonging to the corni - Stuart James & Revett Nicholas - 1762.jpg, Ancient Greek Corinthian order of the

, Athens, 50 BC File:Petra detail of Al Khazneh (The treasury) 1796.jpg, Roman Corinthian capital of

Al-Khazneh Al-Khazneh (; , "The Treasury"), also known as Khazneh el-Far'oun (treasury of the pharaoh), is one of the most elaborate rock-cut tombs in Petra, a city of the Nabatean Kingdom inhabited by the Arabs in ancient times. As with most of the other ...

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, decorated with acanthuses and rinceaux, early 1st century AD File:Detail of Corner Khazneh Petra Jordan1169.jpg, Roman Corinthian pilaster in a corner of Al-Khazneh File:Buddha with monks.jpg, Group of Buddha seated between two monks, with two quasi-Corinthian pilasters that are here because of the influence of Greek culture during the Hellenistic period, 1st-3rd centuries, stone, State Museum of History of Uzbekistan, Tashkent File:Les edifices antiques de Rome 1779 (138343262).jpg, Roman Corinthian capital of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, Rome, with intertwining central stems, 1st century Attica 06-13 Athens 24 Arch of Hadrian.jpg, Roman Corinthian columns and

s of the Arch of Hadrian (Athens), Arch of Hadrian, Athens, 131 or 132 AD Jerash Artemis Temple 0841.jpg, Roman Corinthian columns from the Temple of Artemis, Jerash, Temple of Artemis, Jerash,

, 150 AD Rom, Basilika Santa Sabina, Innenansicht.jpg, The Constantinian basilica of Santa Sabina interior, with ''spolia'' Corinthian columns from the Temple of Juno Regina (Aventine), Temple of Juno ''Regina'' Ravenna Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo capitel.jpg, Byzantine architecture, Byzantine quasi-Corinthian capital in Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, 6th century File:Abadía de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, París, Francia, 2022-11-01, DD 20-22 HDR.jpg, Romanesque quasi-Corinthian columns in Saint-Germain-des-Prés (abbey), Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, 8th century, restored in the 19th century with original polychromy File:Capital with the name of the builder ‘Abd ar Raḥmān III, and of the stonemason Fatḥ, mid-10th century, marble, from Andalusia (Madīnat az-Zahrā’), Inv. no. 5053, Pergamon Museum.jpg, Islamic architecture, Islamic quasi-Corinthian capital from Andalusia (Madīnat az-Zahrā’), present-day Spain, mid-10th century, marble, Pergamon Museum, Berlin Tournus (71) Abbatiale Saint-Philibert - Intérieur - Chapiteau - 13.jpg, Romanesque quasi-Corinthian capital, Church of St. Philibert, Tournus, Church of St. Philibert, Tournus, France, 1008 to mid-11th century Façade de la basilique Saint-André de Mantoue, réalisée par Leon Alberti.jpg, Renaissance architecture, Renaissance Corinthian pilasters of the Basilica of Sant'Andrea, Mantua, Basilica of Sant'Andrea, Mantua, Italy, Leon Battista Alberti, begun in 1450 File:Sala dei gigli, capitello 01.JPG, Renaissance architecture, Renaissance reinterpretation of the Corinthian order, with a capital with Venus and Eros, in the Sala dei Gigli, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy, by Benedetto da Maiano, 1476–1481. File:Santa-Maria-dei-Miracoli Main Portal.JPG, Renaissance Corinthian pilasters of the entrance of the Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Venice, Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Venice, by Pietro Lombardo, 1481–1489 File:Santa Maria del Popolo Presbyterium Grabmal Ascanio Sforza.JPG, Renaissance Corinthian columns of the Tomb of Ascanio Maria Sforza, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, by Andrea Sansovino, 1505 File:Switzerland-03129 - Kindlifresserbrunnen (23573862711).jpg, Polychrome Renaissance column of the Kindlifresserbrunnen, Bern, Switzerland, by Hans Gieng, 1545-1546 San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane - Dome.jpg, Baroque architecture, Baroque Corinthian column capitals in the San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, by Francesco Borromini, 1638–1677 Versailles Chapel - July 2006 edit.jpg, Baroque Corinthian columns in the Chapels of Versailles#Fifth Chapel, Chapel of the Palace of Versailles, 1696–1710 ÖNB 8.jpg, Stylized Baroque Corinthian columns in the Austrian National Library, Hofburg, Vienna, Austria, designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach in 1716–1720, built in 1723–1726 Stavropoleos (35).jpg, Brâncovenesc style, Brâncovenesc Corinthian capitals of the Stavropoleos Monastery Church, Bucharest, Romania, unknown architect, 1724 File:Schouw met putto Schouwen (serietitel), RP-P-1949-395-4.jpg, Rococo reinterpretations of the Corinthian order in an design for an interior, by Franz Xaver Habermann, 1731–1775, etching on paper, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands File:Altaar met God de Vader Altaren (serietitel), RP-P-1964-1453.jpg, Rococo reinterpretations of the Corinthian order in an altar design, with asymmetric capitals and more sinuous S-shaped acanthuses, by Franz Xaver Habermann, 1740–1745, etching on paper, Rijksmuseum Wieskirche, Gemeinde Steingaden Ortsteil Wies.JPG, Rococo reinterpretations of the Corinthian order in the Wieskirche, Pilgrimage Church of Wies, Steingaden, Germany, by Dominikus Zimmermann, Dominikus and Johann Baptist Zimmermann, 1746-1754 file:BasilikaOttobeurenHochaltar02.JPG, Rococo reinterpretations of the Corinthian order at the high altar in the Ottobeuren Abbey, abbey church of Ottobeuren, Germany, by Johann Michael Fischer, 1748-1754 West facade of Petit Trianon 002.JPG, Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical Corinthian columns on the Petit Trianon, Versailles, by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, 1764 File:Salon des dames d'honneur du Palais impérial de Compiègne (Oise) 01.jpg, Neoclassical Corinthian pilaster in the Salon des dames d'honneur, Château de Compiègne, Compiègne, France, unknown architect, 1810 File:The moon over the Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 2839144.jpg, Neoclassical Corinthian capitals of the Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham, UK, inspired by those of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome, by Joseph Hansom and Edward Welch (architect), Edward Welch, 1834 File:Sturdivant Hall, Selma, Alabama LCCN2010646614.tif, Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival Corinthian columns of the Sturdivant Hall, Selma, Alabama, Selma, Alabama, US, inspired by those of the Tower of the Winds, by Thomas Helm Lee, 1852–1856 CorinthOrdUsCap.jpg, The Neoclassical Corinthian order as used in extending the

in 1854: the column's shaft has been omitted File:Paris 9 - 11 cité Malesherbes -1.JPG, Renaissance Revival architecture, Renaissance Revival polychrome ceramic Corinthian pilasters of Cité Malesherbes no. 11 (lower story), Paris, architect Antoine Anatole Jal and painter Pierre-Jules Jollivet, 1858 File:Lyon 5e - Cimetière de Loyasse - Allée 18 - Tombe de Claude Bonnefond - Sculpture et médaillon.jpg, Neoclassical reinterpretation of the Corinthian capital at the Grave of Claude Bonnefond, Loyasse Cemetery, Lyon, France, designed by Antoine-Marie Chenavard and sculpted by Guillaume Bonnet (sculptor), Guillaume Bonnet, 1860 Detail of the principal facade of the Opéra Garnier, 23 March 2010.jpg, Beaux Arts architecture, Beaux Arts Corinthian columns on the facade of the Palais Garnier, Paris, by Charles Garnier (architect), Charles Garnier, 1861–1874 File:Parc des Buttes-Chaumont @ Paris (15261458609).jpg, Neoclassical Corinthian capital of the Temple de la Sibylle, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris, heavily inspired by those of the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, by Gabriel Davioud, 1866 2023-04-22 Parlament Säulenhalle1.jpg, Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival Corinthian columns in the Austrian Parliament Building, Vienna, inspired by those of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, by Theophil von Hansen, 1873–1883 Austrian Parliament Building - colored sections 04.jpg, Greek Revival pilaster capitals on the facade of the Austrian Parliament Building File:Pedestal from the drawing room of the William H. Vanderbilt House MET DT5417.jpg, Pair of pedestals that reinterpret the Corinthian order (not just the capital, also the shaft), from the drawing room of the William H. Vanderbilt House, 1879–1882, Egyptian alabaster, gilt brass, and red glass jewels, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City File:Bowling Green NYC Feb 2021 53.jpg, Greek Revival Corinthian columns of the Bowling Green Offices Building, New York City, a mix of those of the Tower of the Winds and those of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, by W. & G. Audsley, 1895–1898 File:Palace of Fine Arts-21.jpg, Beaux-Arts reinterpretation of the Corinthian order at the Rotunda of the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, US, with a full figure on the capital, egg-and-dart on the

astragal An astragal is a Moulding (decorative), moulding profile composed of a half-round surface surrounded by two flat planes (Annulet (architecture), fillets). An astragal is sometimes referred to as a miniature torus. It can be an architecture, a ...

that is just under the capital, and two extra smaller volutes and a handle-like element on the canonic volutes of the capital corner, by Bernard Maybeck, 1913–1915 File:Exhibition of Japanese Government-General Building Remains 04.JPG, Corinthian capital from the Japanese General Government Building, 1926, unknown type of stone, Independence Hall of Korea, Cheonan, South Korea File:Philadelphia Museum of Art, main building.jpg, Neoclassical polychrome Corinthian columns, entablature and pediment of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, US, by Horace Trumbauer and Zantzinger, Borie & Medary, 1933 File:PiazzaDItalia1990.jpg, Postmodern architecture, Postmodern Corinthian columns of the Piazza d'Italia (New Orleans), Piazza d'Italia, New Orleans, US, by Charles Moore (architect), Charles Moore, 1978–1979 File:South Bay Galleria column, Redondo Beach, California, US, by RTKL Associates and Theo Kondos Associates, 1985.png, Postmodern Neon lighting#Neon lighting and artists in light, neon Corinthian capital in South Bay Galleria, Redondo Beach, California, US, by RTKL Associates and Theo Kondos Associates, 1985 Pumping station, Stewart Street (geograph 4678320).jpg, Reinterpreted Postmodern Corinthian columns of the Isle of Dogs Pumping Station, London, John Outram, 1988 Cambridge - Gonville and Caius College - 0913.jpg, New Classical architecture, New Classical Greek Revival Corinthian column in the Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College Hall, Cambridge, UK, inspired by the one from the Temple of Apollo at Bassaem by John Simpson (architect), John Simpson, 1998

Notes

References

*Brown, Frank C., ''Study of the Orders'', 2002 digital edn. (1st edn 1906), Digital Scanning Incorporated, ISBN 9781582187334
google books
*A. W. Lawrence, Lawrence, A. W., ''Greek Architecture'', 1957, Penguin, Pelican history of art *John Summerson, Summerson, John, ''The Classical Language of Architecture'', 1980 edition, Thames and Hudson ''World of Art'' series,

External links

Classical orders and elements
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corinthian Order Corinthian columns, * Ancient Corinth, Order Ancient Greek architecture Ancient Roman architectural elements Orders of columns