28 ARCHITECTURE. 
ornaments and this is even sometimes done at the present day, but at the 
flourishing age of the art bas-reliefs superseded the painting, and in all 
edifices of true merit bas-relief are still retained. 
The columns are among the most important architectonic pieces, and as 
we have seen, generally composed of the base, the shaft, and the capital. 
The Doric column is without base, and is only placed on a plinth. For all 
the other orders, the Attic and Ionic bases are employed. The Attic base 
(pl. 19, jig. 22) is composed of a plinth, a torus, a scotia, a socle, and 
a second torus. The Ionic base (pl. 22, jig. 4) has a plinth, a scotia, 
and several dividing beads and fillets, a second scotia, a slab, and a 
torus. 
The shaft, and the Doric and Ionic capitals have been described already. 
The Corinthian capital (pl. 19, fig. 18) is generally composed of two main 
parts. The first is the calathus or cup, whose ornaments present three 
different tiers: 1, eight acanthus leaves; 2, eight acanthus leaves with their 
stems (cawlicolz); 3, four volutes with acanthus buds and leaves. The 
second main part of the capital is the abacus or top piece, whose mouldings 
are the wave and the erect bell. It has projecting, truncated corners, and 
its receding sides are ornamented with flowers. This refers, of course, only 
to the general type of the Corinthian capital, for its ornaments are infinitely 
varied. 
The pillar (pela) differs from the column in its connexion with the wall, 
on account of which it has often been identified with it, though on the other 
hand, the pillar has many relations to the column, being often placed in the 
same row, for the same purpose of supporting the architrave or entablature. 
It receives similar decorations, particularly in the capital and base, some- 
times even the reduction of size towards the top and the entasis. We dis- 
tinguish the following kinds of pillars: 1. Pillars standing free on all sides. 
2. Pillars which strengthen the corners of a wall (ante). 3. Pillars which 
stand in place of door jambs (postes). 4. Pillars which project from the 
wall, either tomark the beginning of an adjoining colonnade, or merely to 
break the simplicity of the wall; these are termed pilasters (parastates). 
5. Buttresses (anterides). 6. Short pillars, which serve as pedestals for 
columns (stybolate) (pl. 20, jigs. 1-5). 
The pillar is composed of a foot (spera), a shaft or cube (truncus), and of 
a capital (metopon), which is always somewhat lighter than the capital of 
the corresponding columns, with which its ornaments are generally in 
keeping. 
The wall is the continuation of the pillar, and of course deviates still more 
from the characteristic features of the columns, because its object is not 
only to support, but also to inclose. Yet, like the pillar, it often receives a 
base and kind of capital, the cornice. Low walls occur partly as fences, in 
part as pedestals for the main walls, in which case they are called ashlers. 
Substructures of greater height and richer finish are termed stereobates or 
stylobate. They exhibit a distinct base, cube, and cornice (pl. 7, fig. 20, 5). 
Flights of steps are frequently introduced for the same purpose, to raise 
the building above the ground (pi. 20, fig. 8). If the steps are more than 
28 
