Ionic order 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 from the stylobate or platform; the
Corinthian order colonettes within the same system. During the 16th century, a sequence of engravings of the orders in architectural treatises helped standardize their details within rigid limits. Sebastiano Serlio; the "Regola delli cinque ordini" of Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507–1573); the "Quattro libri di Architettura" of Andrea Palladio, and Vincenzo Scamozzi's "Idea della Architettura Universale," were followed in the 17th century by French treatises with further refined engraved models, such as Perrault's. Corinthian order The Corinthian order is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order which