Composite architecture
Introduction
The composite order (in Latin: Ordo Compositus; in Greek: Σύνθετος ρυθμός) is a mixed classical order that does not belong to the group of Greek architectural orders (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian), but, with the Tuscan, is one of the Roman contributions to the classical orders. In proportions and compositional elements it is identical to the Corinthian order, with two variations: the base is richer in moldings and resembles an inverted Doric shaft, while the capital is a mixture or composition (hence the name of the order) that combines the volutes "Volute (architecture)") of the capital of the Ionic order with the acanthus leaves of the capital of the Corinthian order.[1][2] In many versions of the composite order the Scrolls are however larger, and generally have some ornament placed centrally between the scrolls. The column of the composite order is typically ten diameters high, although as with all orders these details could be adjusted by the architect to suit particular buildings.
History
The composite order is not found in architecture in Ancient Greece and until the Renaissance it was not classified as a separate order. It was considered an imperial Roman form of the Corinthian order. Although the Arch of Titus, built in 82 AD. C. in the forum of Rome, is sometimes cited as the first prominent surviving example of a composite order, the order was probably invented "a little before the reign of Augustus, and was certainly well developed before his death, the same time when the Roman version of the Corinthian was being established."[2]
Along with the Tuscan order, a simplified version of the Doric order, also found in ancient Roman architecture but not included by Vitruvius in his three orders, the compound was added by Renaissance writers to make five classical orders. Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554) published his book I sette libri d'architettura in 1537, in which he was the second to mention the composite order as its own order and not only as an evolution of the Corinthian order, as León Battista Alberti had already suggested. Alberti in his De re aedificatoria mentions the compound order, calling it "italic".[3].
Capital shape
The compound is based in part on the Ionic order, where the volutes (seen frontally) are joined by an essentially horizontal element running across the top of the capital, so that it resembles a scroll partially rolled at each end. Despite this origin, many composite capitals actually treat the two scrolls as different elements, each rising from one side of their leafy base. In this, and in having a separate ornament between them, it resembles the Aeolian order of archaic times, although that does not seem to have been the route of its development in early imperial Rome. Similarly, although the Greek Ionic scroll was usually shown on its side as a single unit of uniform width between the front and back of the column, compound scrolls are usually treated as four different, thinner units, one at each of the corners of the capital, arranged at about 45° to the façade. This has the advantage of eliminating the need to have a different appearance between front and side views, and the Ionic eventually developed inflected forms that also allow this.