Editing Column (section)

==Orders==
{{main|Classical order}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2021}}
The [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] author [[Vitruvius]], relying on the writings (now lost) of [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] authors, tells us that the ancient [[Hellenic civilization|Greeks]] believed that their Doric order developed from techniques for building in wood. The earlier smoothed tree-trunk was replaced by a stone cylinder.

===Doric order===
{{main|Doric order}}

The [[Doric order]] is the oldest and simplest of the classical orders. It is composed of a vertical [[cylinder (geometry)|cylinder]] that is wider at the bottom.  It generally has neither a base nor a detailed [[Capital (architecture)|capital]]. It is instead often topped with an inverted [[frustum]] of a shallow cone or a cylindrical band of carvings.  It is often referred to as the masculine order because it is represented in the bottom level of the [[Colosseum]] and the [[Parthenon]], and was therefore considered to be able to hold more weight. The height-to-thickness ratio is about 8:1. The shaft of a Doric Column is almost always [[Fluting (architecture)|fluted]].

The Greek Doric, developed in the western Dorian region of Greece, is the heaviest and most massive of the orders. It rises from the [[stylobate]] without any base; it is from four to six times as tall as its diameter; it has twenty broad flutes; the capital consists simply of a banded necking swelling out into a smooth echinus, which carries a flat square abacus; the Doric entablature is also the heaviest, being about one-fourth the height column. The Greek Doric order was not used after c. 100 B.C. until its “rediscovery” in the mid-eighteenth century.

===Tuscan order===
{{main|Tuscan order}}

The [[Tuscan order]], also known as Roman Doric, is also a simple design, the base and capital both being series of cylindrical disks of alternating diameter. The shaft is almost never fluted. The proportions vary, but are generally similar to Doric columns. Height to width ratio is about 7:1.

===Ionic order===
{{main|Ionic order}}
The [[Ionic order|Ionic]] column is considerably more complex than the Doric or Tuscan.  It usually has a base and the shaft is often fluted (it has grooves carved up its length). The capital features a [[volute]], an ornament shaped like a [[scroll (parchment)|scroll]], at the four corners. The height-to-thickness ratio is around 9:1. Due to the more refined proportions and scroll capitals, the Ionic column is sometimes associated with academic buildings. Ionic style columns were used on the second level of the Colosseum.

===Corinthian order===
{{main|Corinthian order}}

The Corinthian order is named for the Greek [[city-state]] of [[Corinth, Greece|Corinth]], to which it was connected in the period.  However, according to the architectural historian [[Vitruvius]], the column was created by the sculptor [[Callimachus (sculptor)|Callimachus]], probably an [[Athens|Athenian]], who drew [[Acanthus (genus)|acanthus]] leaves growing around a votive basket. In fact, the oldest known Corinthian capital was found in [[Bassae]], dated at 427 BC. It is sometimes called the feminine order because it is on the top level of the Colosseum and holding up the least weight, and also has the slenderest ratio of thickness to height. Height to width ratio is about 10:1.

===Composite order===
The [[Composite order]] draws its name from the capital being a composite of the Ionic and Corinthian capitals. The acanthus of the Corinthian column already has a scroll-like element, so the distinction is sometimes subtle. Generally the Composite is similar to the Corinthian in proportion and employment, often in the upper tiers of [[colonnade]]s. Height to width ratio is about 11:1 or 12:1.

===Solomonic===
A [[Solomonic column]], sometimes called "[[barley sugar]]", begins on a base and ends in a capital, which may be of any order, but the shaft twists in a tight spiral, producing a dramatic, serpentine effect of movement.  Solomonic columns were developed in the ancient world, but remained rare there. A famous marble set, probably 2nd century, was brought to [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]] by [[Constantine I]], and placed round the saint's shrine, and was thus familiar throughout the Middle Ages, by which time they were thought to have been removed from the [[Temple of Jerusalem]].<ref>J. Ward-Perkins, "The shrine of St. Peter's and its twelve spiral columns" ''Journal of Roman Studies'' '''42''' (1952) p 21ff.</ref>  The style was used in bronze by [[Bernini]] for his spectacular [[St. Peter's baldachin]], actually a [[Ciborium (architecture)|ciborium]] (which displaced Constantine's columns), and thereafter became very popular with [[Baroque]] and [[Rococo]] church architects, above all in [[Latin America]], where they were very often used, especially on a small scale, as they are easy to produce in wood by [[Woodturning|turning on a lathe]] (hence also the style's popularity for [[Spindle (furniture)|spindles]] on furniture and stairs).

=== Caryatid ===
{{main|Caryatid}}
A Caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an [[entablature]] on her head. The [[Greek language|Greek]] term {{Lang|grc|karyatides}} literally means "maidens of [[Karyes|Karyai]]", an ancient town of [[Peloponnese]].

===Engaged columns===
{{main|Engaged column}}
In architecture, an engaged column is a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, sometimes defined as semi or three-quarter detached. Engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then only in exceptional cases, but in Roman architecture they exist in abundance, most commonly embedded in the [[cella]] walls of [[Pseudoperipteros|pseudoperipteral]] buildings.