Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/62

 32 Greek Architecture. them; and to the system of decoration which was employed in the whole building. The capital of the column was, if the phrase may be permitted, the badge by which the whole can be recognised. In all early Greek temple architecture we meet with substantially the same ground-plan treated in two widely different styles. This is accounted for by the fact that Greece was inhabited by two separate races, distinguished as the Doric and the Ionic, who have given their names to the two chief Greek orders of architecture. The third order is called the Corinthian, — why, has not yet been determined, as no examples of it have been found at Corinth. To avoid confusion, it will be well to make ourselves acquainted with the different parts of the column and its superstructure or entablature in every order before describing the different treatment of those parts in the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian styles. A column consists of the base, the shaft, and the capital. The entablature, that part of the building which surmounts the columns and rests upon their capitals, consists also of three parts, — the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice (Fig. 20). The architrave is the horizontal portion rest- ing on the abacus (a flat tablet placed upon the capital), and is sometimes ornamented by mouldings with flat spaces between them. The upper moulding .projects beyond the other, to throw off the rain. The frieze, the middle portion of the entablature, between the architrave and cornice, is generally ornamented with sculptures. The cornice forms the upper portion of the entablature, and is divided into three parts ; namely, the supporting part, the projecting part, and the crowning part. The lower