Ionic order edifices antiques de Rome" (Paris 1682). Ionic order The Ionic order forms one of the three classical orders of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite order, both added by 16th-century Italian architectural writers, based on Roman practice. Of the three canonic orders, the Ionic order has the narrowest columns. The Ionic capital is characterized by the use of volutes. The Ionic columns normally stand on a base which separates the shaft of the column
I quattro libri dell'architettura First book discusses building materials and techniques. It documents five classical orders (Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, composite) in all their parts (bases, columns, architraves, arches, capitals, trabeations), as well as discussing other building elements (vaulted ceilings, floors, doors and windows, fireplaces, roofs and stairs). The Second book covers the designs of private urban townhouses and country villas of the 1500s, in and around Venice, almost all designed by Palladio himself. This includes nine palazzi, 22 villas (13 of them completed, another 5 partly completed), and a series of unrealized projects. The plates of completed projects sometimes differ from the buildings