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In the first recorded book of architecture, Vitruvius tells the story of a young woman from the city-state of Corinth. « A Corinthian maiden born free, of marriageable age, was afflicted with disease and died » writes Vitruvius. When she was entombed she was placed on her grave, located near the roots of an acanthus tree, a basket containing her favorite belongings. That spring, leaves and stems grew through the basket creating a delicate explosion of natural beauty. The effect caught the eye of a passing sculptor named Callimachus, who began incorporating the intricate design into the column capitals. Because the sculptor found the design in Corinth, the columns displaying it were called Corinthian columns.
The Corinthian column constitutes one of the orders of classical architecture; It is a style of ornate column developed in ancient Greece, more complex and elaborate than the earlier Doric and Ionic orders. The capital or upper part of a Corinthian-style column has a luxurious carved ornamentation that resembles leaves and flowers, as can be seen in the presentation photo of the article. The Roman architect Vitruvius recorded that the delicate Corinthian design derived from the other two styles. He described the Corinthian column as ‘ an imitation of a maiden’s slenderness; for the contours and members of the maidens, being more slender due to their tender age, admit of prettier effects in their adornment .”
Corinthian columns are rarely used in common house porches. The style is more suitable for Greek Revival mansions and for public buildings, such as government buildings, and especially courthouses. The main characteristics of the Corinthian columns are having a fluted shaft , capitals decorated with leaves and acanthus flowers that are prolonged in the shape of a bell giving the sensation of height, and proportions that give a more stylized and taller effect than the columns. ionian _
The story of the Corinthian columns
The Corinthian column and the Corinthian order were created in ancient Greece. The oldest surviving example of the classical Corinthian column is believed to be in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, west of Corinth. This temple, built approximately 425 years before Christ, is part of UNESCO’s historical heritage. Another example is the tholos (circular building) of Epidaurus, built in 350 BC, which is believed to be one of the first structures to use a colonnade made up of Corinthian columns. The archaeologists found that the tholosthey have 26 exterior Doric columns and 14 interior Corinthian columns. The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens (from 175 BC) is believed to have had more than 100 Corinthian columns. The Arch of Constantine in Rome, built in 315, and the Ancient Library of Celsus in Ephesus, contain some examples of Corinthian columns from classical architecture.
Classical architecture resurfaced in Europe during the Renaissance, in the 15th and 16th centuries. Later variants of classical architecture include 19th century neoclassical and neoclassical architecture, and American Gilded Age Beaux Arts architecture. Thomas Jefferson was influential in establishing the neoclassical style in the United States, as seen in the Rotunda at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Corinthian style designs can also be found in some forms of Islamic architecture. The distinctive capital of the Corinthian column can be presented in a variety of forms, but the acanthus leaf appears in most designs. Professor Talbot Hamlin suggests that Islamic architecture was influenced by the acanthus leaf design: ” many mosques, such as those in Kairouan and Cordoba, used early Corinthian capitals, and later Muslim capitals often followed the general Corinthian pattern.” although the tendency towards abstraction gradually eliminated the realism in the carving of the leaves .”
The preservation of the Corinthian capitals
The Corinthian capitals are not all the same but all are characterized by their leafy flowers. Corinthian column capitals are more ornate and delicate than the caps on other types of columns. These capitals can easily deteriorate over time, especially when they are exposed to the elements. The first Corinthian columns were mainly used for interior spaces and were therefore protected from the impact of climatic phenomena. The Lysicrates Monument in Athens, built in 335 BC, is one of the earliest examples of exterior Corinthian columns.
The replacement of deteriorated Corinthian capitals must be carried out by master craftsmen. During the bombing of Berlin in 1945, the Royal Palace was badly damaged and then demolished in the 1950s. It was rebuilt after the reunification and union of the two areas of Berlin (east and west). The sculptors used old photographs to recreate the architectural details on the new façade using clay and plaster, after realizing that not all of the original Corinthian capitals were the same.
Buildings where we can appreciate Corinthian columns
Various buildings that we can find today contain Corinthian columns. In the United States it can be seen in the Supreme Court building, the Capitol and the National Archives building, all of them in Washington DC. In New York City, two buildings that contain Corinthian columns are the Stock Exchange Building on Broad Street in Manhattan and the James A. Farley Building, located across from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. In the traditional visit to the Pantheon and the Colosseum in Rome, it is possible to appreciate the Doric columns located on the first level, the Ionic columns on the second and the Corinthian columns on the third. The great Renaissance cathedrals throughout Europe contain Corinthian columns, such as St Paul’s Cathedral and St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.
