Info Articles > Categories > Art and Culture > What are the Five Orders of Architecture

What are the Five Orders of Architecture

The Tuscan (from Tuscany,) is the most simple and devoid of ornament, and its columns or pillars are plain and massive. The Doric (from the Dorians, in Greece,) is durable and noble in appearance, having its columns plain like the Tuscan, but the upper parts more ornamental. The Ionic, (from Iona, in Greece,) is neither so plain as the Doric, nor so richly elegant as the Corinthian; but is distinguished from the first two orders by having its columns or pillars fluted instead of plain, and the upper part of them (called the capitals,) adorned by the figures of rams' horns carved on them. The Corinthian is very rich and delicate, with fluted pillars, and the tops beautifully ornamented with leaves. The invention of this order is ascribed to Callimachus, a Corinthian sculptor. The Composite is compounded of the other four; it is very much like the Corinthian, and is also called the Roman or Italian order.