Editing Tuscan order (section)

{{short description|Architectural order}}
[[Image:Regola delli cinqve ordini d'architettvra (1563) (14778998914).jpg|thumb|right|The Tuscan order illustrated in ''Regola delli cinqve ordini d'architettvra'' (1563), by [[Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola]]]]
[[Image:Vignolafiveorders.jpg|thumb|The five orders, engraving from [[Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola|Vignola]]'s ''Regola delli cinque ordini d'architettura'', 1562; Tuscan on the left.]]
[[File:ARCHITECTURE ORDERS Greeks Etruscan Roman (Doric Ionic Corinthian Tuscan Composite) by Paolo Villa ENG edition.pdf|thumb|Comparison of the [[Doric order|Doric]], Tuscan, [[Ionic order|Ionic]], [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] and [[Composite order|Composite]] orders]]
[[Image:St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden, London.jpg|thumb|[[St Paul's, Covent Garden]] by [[Inigo Jones]] (1633), "the handsomest barn in England"]]

The '''Tuscan order''' (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of '''Etruscan order''') is one of the two [[classical order]]s developed by the Romans, the other being the [[composite order]]. It is influenced by the [[Doric order]], but with un-[[fluting (architecture)|fluted columns]] and a simpler [[entablature]] with no [[triglyph]]s or [[guttae]]. While relatively simple columns with round capitals had been part of the [[vernacular architecture]] of Italy and much of Europe since at least [[Etruscan architecture]], the Romans did not consider this style to be a distinct [[Classical order|architectural order]] (for example, the Roman architect [[Vitruvius]] did not include it alongside his descriptions of the Greek Doric, [[Ionic order|Ionic]], and [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] orders). Its classification as a separate formal order is first mentioned in [[Isidore of Seville]]'s 6th-century ''[[Etymologiae]]'' and refined during the [[Italian Renaissance]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=of Seville|first=Isidore|title=The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|isbn=9780521837491|location=Cambridge|pages=312}}</ref>

[[Sebastiano Serlio]] described five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book<ref>The first one published.</ref> of ''Regole generali di architettura sopra le cinque maniere<!--maniere in original--> de gli edifici'' (1537).  Though [[Fra Giocondo]] had attempted a first illustration of a Tuscan capital in his printed edition of Vitruvius (1511), he showed the capital with an [[egg and dart]] enrichment that belonged to the Ionic.  The "most rustic" Tuscan order of Serlio was later carefully delineated by [[Andrea Palladio]].

In its simplicity, the Tuscan order is seen as similar to the Doric order, and yet in its overall proportions, intercolumniation and simpler entablature, it follows the ratios of the Ionic. This strong order was considered most appropriate in military architecture and in docks and warehouses when they were dignified by architectural treatment. Serlio found it "suitable to fortified places, such as city gates, fortresses, castles, treasuries, or where artillery and ammunition are kept, prisons, seaports and other similar structures used in war."