Richard Phené Spiers

“ The architrave, frieze and cornice, are simple versions of the Doric, except that there are no triglyphs in the frieze.
The Doric Order.—In his Doric order Vignola has followed the Roman Doric order of the theatre of Marcellus, but he gives it a base consisting of an astragal and torus resting on a square plinth; in his shaft he copies the fluting (24 flutes) with the arris of the columns of the thermae of Diocletian; his capital, except the flowers decorating the necking and his entablature, are entirely taken from the theatre of Marcellus ”

“ In the Attic examples much greater simpUcity, ascribed to Dorian influence, is given to the bedmould, in which only the cyma-reversa with the Lesbian leaf carved on it and the bead and reel are retained. The mouldings of the cornice, including the cymatium, are carried up as a pediment, as in the Doric temple, and the roofs are similar. The base and capital of the antae are more elaborate than in those of the Doric order, and are sometimes, both in Ionic and Attic examples, richly carved with the Lesbian leaf and egg-and-dart, in both cases with the bead and reel underneath. ”

“ The Corinthian Order.—In this order Vignola, for his base, returns to the temple of Castor, makes his columns 10 diameters high, copies the capital of the portico of the Pantheon, introduces a rib frieze with winged female figures and a bull about to be sacrificed, and adopts the bedmould of the temple of Castor, reversing the carving of two of the mouldings and the cornice, and omitting the fluting of the corona of that temple. ”

“ The abacus in this capital has a deep scotia with fillet, and an echinus above, and is one of the few great examples in which the angles are canted. The architrave, frieze and cornice are adaptations from the Ionic order. ”

“ The columns of the Mycenae tombs are semi-detached only, and of very slender proportions, averaging 10 to 11 diameters in height; as isolated columns, therefore, they would have been incapable of carrying any weight, so that in the next examples known, those of the temple at Corinth, where the columns had to carry an entablature in stone supporting a stone ceiling over the peristyle, the relation of diameter to height is nearly one to four, so diffident were the Greek architects as to the bearing power of the stone. ”

“ Above this the tr ache lion or necking curves over, constructing what is known as the apophyge up to the fillets, round the base of the echinus, which forms the transition to the square abacus. The varying curve of the echinus, from the earliest times down to the later examples, is shown in the article on mouldings. The relative proportions of the lower diameter and the height of the columns vary according to the date of the example, in the early examples the column being just on 4 diameters high, in the Parthenon nearly 51/2 diameters, and in the Temple of Jupiter Nemaeus 61/2 diameters high. ”

“ The earliest example of the Arcade order is the Tabularium in Rome (80 B.C.) where it was employed to light a vaulted corridor running from one end to the other of the structure and raised some 50 ft. from the ground. ”