Corinthian order

The development of the three classical styles of ancient Greek architecture - Doric, Ionian and Corinth - is lost in the darkness of centuries. Of these three special ways of building the Corinthian style is the most decorative and best known in modern times. It developed on the basis of Doric and Ionian types of architectural composition (orders), which is determined by a combination of proportions in the construction of the column and certain details of its decoration. Its name was derived from the ancient Greek policy of Corinth, but was most likely developed in Athens in the fifth century BC. The most famous example of the use of the style, preserved to this day, can be found in the temple dedicated to Apollo Epicurean, located in the north-eastern part of the Messiah (in Ancient Greece, part of Arcadia), in Bassa.

But curiously, the Corinthian order is not part of the temple, which had a Doric colonnade around and an ionic warrant in the celle. Zella - is a walled space inside the temple, where the image of the deity was placed. A place that was a sanctuary (hieron), where the deity dwelt. And only one Corinthian column is inside the cell. A mysterious feature that is the cause of discussions between archaeologists and historians. Some scholars claim that she is an example of offering to a deity. The same picture could be observed in the temples of Ancient Greece, built during the next century. A well-known example, when the Corinthian order was used as part of the temple, this is a type of Khoregic monument, a colonnade (of six columns) of the Lysikrat monument in Athens, erected in 334 BC.

According to the beautiful legend of the origin of the column, told by Vitruvius, the ancient Greek bronze casting master Callimachus once strolled in the vicinity of Corinth and came upon the grave hill in which one girl rested. On it was a wicker basket made of willow with gifts in the form of toys, on top covered with a stove. The large leaves of the acanthus - the plants around the grave, sprouted through the bars and formed something resembling a bouquet. Kallimaha was very impressed with this motif. He, when he returned home, sketched it and then embodied in a bronze capitol - in the form of a round basket, surrounded by leaves of acanthus. It is not known how plausible this story is, but the fact is that the first samples were actually made of bronze, only later the Corinthian order was embodied in stone.

In ancient Greece, it was perceived only as a more decorative form of ionic. It should be said that the Greeks rarely used it in the construction of temples and after the fifth century BC. He developed much more from the Romans, who also developed several of his variants. It is a little surprising that the Romans, who were called more practical people, especially in relation to the ancient Greeks, chose the most luxurious of the Greek warrants. In any case, along with Doric and Ionic, it is considered one of three classic warrants.

Repeating many features of the ionic column, the Corinthian order has pronounced differences. On the trunk of the column (similar to the trunk in the Ionic style), alternating flute (flat, deep), often ending under the capitol in the form of curved petals. Two types of columns differ in the profile of the base (in Corinth it widens and becomes thinner), but especially with the capital. The capital in the form of an opened flower cup, which is surrounded by flowers arranged in rows. In the lower part of the cup covers a narrow belt, and at the top of it stems rise, resting on a plate of a quadrangular shape, decorated in the middle with a flower. On the plate is an entablature, the frieze of which is covered with stucco decorations (palmettes and other figures), repeating and over the cornice, broken into brackets from the lower side.

It should be noted that it is possible to find more distant predecessors of such decorative complexity, for example, in the ancient Persian architecture. Although, of course, the naturalistic leaves of the acanthus are a sure sign that before us the Corinthian order, the construction and detailed processing of the columns also played a big role in the spacious halls that the Persians loved very much. The trunks of the columns were covered with small flutes, they were installed on beautifully decorated bases in the form of an overturned bowl, and they ended with bunches of vertically placed volutes or stone-carved semi-figures of bulls (unicorns).