Corinthian order

The Corinthian order is the most decorative style of the three main designs used in ancient buildings by the Greeks and Romans. The other two styles are the Doric order and the Ionic order. The Corinthian style is special because of its beautiful column tops, called capitals, which are more fancy than the Ionic ones.

Corinthian peripteros of the Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek, Lebanon, unknown architect, 150–250

A Corinthian capital looks like an Ionic capital but with extra details. You can sometimes see small scrolls called volutes at the corners. These sit above rows of stiff or curly leaves called acanthus leaves. On top of the capital is a flat piece called an abacus, often with a flower in the middle.

When people started building again in the style of ancient times during the Renaissance, they added two more styles to the list: the Tuscan order and the Composite order. The Corinthian style has columns with lines called flutes and very fancy capitals covered with leaves and scrolls. There are many different ways this style has been used. The name Corinthian comes from the ancient Greek city of Corinth, even though it may have been created in Athens.

Description

The Corinthian order is the most decorative of the three main ancient styles used in buildings. It started in Greece and later became popular in Rome. The style gets its name from the Greek city of Corinth. One story says a sculptor named Callimachus created the design after seeing acanthus leaves growing around a basket left on a girl’s grave.

Frieze and capitals of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, Athens, unknown architect, 330s BC, one of the earliest surviving examples

In Greek buildings, the Corinthian style was used mostly during the Late Classical Period, around 430 to 323 BC. Early examples were found in a temple at Bassae. Later, Romans adopted the style and used it in many important buildings, like the Temple of Mars Ultor in Rome and the Colosseum. Roman architects paid special attention to the proportions, making columns slimmer and adding detailed carvings to the tops.

The Corinthian style also influenced other regions. In places like Gandhara, artists mixed Greek designs with local traditions, often adding Buddhist figures to the column tops. During the Renaissance in Italy, architects studied and reused the Corinthian style, finding new ways to decorate and vary the designs.

History

Ancient Greek capital from Tarentum with addorsed sphinxes, 4th–3rd centuries BC, made of limestone, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

The oldest known example of a Corinthian column is in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, dating from around 450–420 BC. This single column was placed inside the temple, which otherwise used simpler styles for its outer columns. Another famous early example is the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, built around 334 BC, where the Corinthian style was used on the outside of the building.

Later, the Roman writer Vitruvius told a story about how the Corinthian style began. According to him, an architect named Callimachus was inspired by a small basket left on a grave, with plants growing through it. This idea influenced how the Corinthian style was designed. The style continued to be used in many buildings over the centuries, even when new architectural styles developed.