Classical Column Orders
Order↕ | Origin↕ | Era↕ | Capital Style↕ | Height Proportion↕ | Known For↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Doric (Greek) | Mainland Greece | 7th century BC | Plain echinus and abacus | 4-8 times diameter | Oldest and simplest Greek order, no base, fluted shaft, used on the Parthenon |
Ionic | Ionia (Asia Minor) | 6th century BC | Scrolled volutes | 9 times diameter | Elegant scrolls, Erechtheion and Temple of Athena Nike, feminine proportions |
Corinthian | Corinth, Greece | 5th century BC | Acanthus leaves | 10 times diameter | Most ornate order, Kallimachos legend, Temple of Olympian Zeus |
Tuscan (Roman) | Etruscan / Rome | Republican Rome | Plain round echinus, simple base | 7 times diameter | Simplified Doric, used by Bramante at Tempietto, austere Roman stability |
Composite | Rome | 1st century AD | Ionic volutes plus Corinthian acanthus | 10 times diameter | Hybrid of Ionic and Corinthian, Arch of Titus, codified by Alberti and Serlio |
Doric (Roman) | Rome | Imperial Rome | Echinus with base | 8 times diameter | Roman variant adds a base, used on Colosseum ground level |
Aeolic | Aeolis, Asia Minor | 7th century BC | Rising palmette volutes | 8 times diameter | Proto-Ionic variant with upturned volutes and central palmette, found at Neandria |
Persian (Achaemenid) | Persia | 6th-4th century BC | Twin bull-head protomes | 12 times diameter | Slender wood-to-stone columns at Persepolis with double-bull or griffin capitals |
Egyptian Palmiform | Ancient Egypt | Old Kingdom onward | Palm frond bundle | 6 times diameter | Column capital of outspread palm fronds, predates Greek orders |
Egyptian Lotiform | Ancient Egypt | Middle Kingdom | Closed or open lotus bud | 6 times diameter | Lotus-bud capitals at Karnak and Luxor temples |
Egyptian Papyriform | Ancient Egypt | New Kingdom | Papyrus bundle | 7 times diameter | Bell-shaped papyrus capitals at Karnak Hypostyle Hall |
Hathoric | Ancient Egypt | New Kingdom | Hathor head on all four sides | 6 times diameter | Columns topped by the cow-eared goddess Hathor, Dendera temple |
Solomonic | Rome / Baroque Europe | Baroque (17th century) | Varies, often Composite | 10 times diameter | Twisted helical shaft, Bernini's baldachin over St Peter's altar |
Giant (Colossal) Order | Renaissance Italy | 16th century | Usually Corinthian | Spans multiple storeys | Michelangelo at Campidoglio, column unifies two or more floors of a facade |
Caryatid | Greece (Karyai) | 5th century BC | Female figures as supports | Figural, about life-size | Porch of the Erechtheion on Athenian Acropolis, female figures replacing columns |
Atlantid (Telamon) | Ancient Greece / Rome | 5th century BC onward | Male figures as supports | Figural, above life-size | Male versions of caryatids, temple of Olympian Zeus at Agrigento |
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