Difference between revisions of "The Three Orders of Architecture"
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| + | [[File:Five classical orders Encyclopedie engraving.png|thumb|right|340px|alt=Six drawings of capitals labelled Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, modern Ionic, Corinthian and Composite.|Capitals of the five classical orders, with a second Ionic variant, from an eighteenth-century plate in the Encyclopédie.]] | ||
The '''Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders''' are systems of design used in classical architecture. An order includes the proportions and treatment of a column and the horizontal structure it supports, called the entablature. The capital is often its most readily recognised feature.<ref name="met">Colette Hemingway, [https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/architecture-in-ancient-greece Architecture in Ancient Greece], ''Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History'', Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2003.</ref> | The '''Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders''' are systems of design used in classical architecture. An order includes the proportions and treatment of a column and the horizontal structure it supports, called the entablature. The capital is often its most readily recognised feature.<ref name="met">Colette Hemingway, [https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/architecture-in-ancient-greece Architecture in Ancient Greece], ''Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History'', Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2003.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 17:36, 24 September 2026
The Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders are systems of design used in classical architecture. An order includes the proportions and treatment of a column and the horizontal structure it supports, called the entablature. The capital is often its most readily recognised feature.[1]
Distinguishing features
| Order | Features |
|---|---|
| Doric | In Greek examples, a fluted column normally stands without a separate base. Its plain capital supports an entablature with alternating triglyphs and metopes in the frieze. |
| Ionic | Columns stand on bases. The capital has scrolls, called volutes, and the frieze can carry continuous sculptural decoration. |
| Corinthian | The capital is decorated with acanthus leaves and small volutes. Developed later than the other two Greek orders, it became particularly common in Hellenistic and Roman architecture. |
These descriptions summarise Greek forms; details changed as the orders were reused in later buildings.[1]
The familiar system of five orders also includes Tuscan and Composite. Julien Mauclerc's A New Treatise of Architecture, catalogued by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explicitly treats all five.[2]
Classical design in Masonic buildings
Masonic halls provide examples of the later use of classical forms. At Phoenix Hall in Sunderland, built in 1784–1785, Historic England records a neoclassical lodge room with engaged Doric columns and chimney pieces incorporating Doric entablatures.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Colette Hemingway, Architecture in Ancient Greece, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2003.
- ↑ Metropolitan Museum of Art, A New Treatise of Architecture, according to Vitruvius, written and edited by Julien Mauclerc, collection record.
- ↑ Historic England, Phoenix Hall, National Heritage List for England, entry 1279903, “Details: Interior”. Accessed 24 September 2026.
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