CAPITAL, (capitello, Italian ; from the Latin, caput, the head) the assemblage of mouldings or ornaments above the shaft of a column, on which the entablature rests ; in other words, the head of the column. Capital.; are variously com posed, some with simple mouldings, others with mouldings, foliage, and volutes.
The capitals used in the architecture of the Greeks, though with numberless minute variations of ornaments and proportions, arrange themselves into three general classes, and offer the most obvious distinctions between the orders.
In all the orders, the capital is divided from the shaft by some small member, as an astragal and fillet, or by one or three channels, which are always accounted a part of the shaft ; so much of the column, therefore, as appears above this member, belongs to the capital.
The Doric capital consists of a neck, which is a continua tion of the shaft, with its fluting, several fillets, varying from three to five in number, a bold projecting ovolo, and a massy abacus, of a square form, which covers the whole.
The Ionic capital consists of an ovolo above the astragal of the shaft ; a band, or festoon, upon the ovolo, on the front and rear of the capital, with volutes on the right and left, suspended from the ends of each band, or festoon ; and, lastly, a thin moulded abacus crowns the whole.
The Corinthian capital, which is more richly ornamented, consists of a vase, two rows of leaves attached to the vase, volutes, caulicoli, which spring between each two of the upper row of leaves, and, lastly, an abacus, which is not only moulded on all the four edges, but formed into a concavity from the two extremities of each of the said edges.
From this description of Grecian capitals, it will be seen that though the parts are generally so very unlike as to be incapable of comparison, yet they in variety maintain a general resemblance.
The variations to be found in different ancient examples of the same order, will be described under their respective heads.
With regard to the Tuscan capital, there are no authenti cated remains of the order of which it is a part ; and the precepts of Vitruvius on this head are so obscure, that modern compilers of systems of architecture have, of course, varied exceedingly in their designs ; so that the order which passes under this name, must be regarded rather as a modern than an ancient invention. It is made to differ from the modern Doric by an air of poverty and rudeness, and by the suppression of the triglyphs, mutules, and other members.
The Composite appears never to have been admitted as a separate order by the ancients.
From the remains of Egyptian antiquities, we find that their architects had no certain rules ; and it is rather singu lar, that though the buildings themselves were constructed with the greatest simplicity, their capitals are of infinite variety ; many of them possessing richness of decoration, although devoid of the simple elegance which is the charac teristic of the Grecian orders. The ornaments are, in general,
accurate imitations of the natural productions of the country, such as the lotus, the reed, or the palm.
The temples of the ancient inhabitants of Hindostan, works of dateless antiquity, present many capitals of extra ordinary form and composition. In some, we find repre sented the figures of elephants and horses, apparently crouching under the weight of the ceiling. Capitals, very similar in idea, are also found in the ruins of Persepolis, composed of horses and camels.
As Roman art degenerated with the decline of the empire, the capitals from the ancient edifices were used indiscrimi nately in the new structures ; and this led, in later times, to the employment of a variety of capitals in the same edifice. The first alteration we find in the form of this member of the column, is in the erection of that style of architecture known as Byzantine, in which the capitals are in the shape of a truncated pyramid of four sides, placed in an inverted posi tion, having the apex downwards ; the surface is ornamented with foliations in low relief, or with a sort of basket-work, which is a distinguishing feature of the style to which it belongs. A nearer approach to their original is shown at a later period. in the style whose introduction is attributed to the Lombards ; in this, which is merely a modification of the debased Roman, some of the capitals bear a great resemblance to the Corinthian, although fir inferior to their original in simplicity and elegance ; there are, however, other examples of a fir different description, both in form and ornamenta tion ; some ornamented with designs in low relief, others again of a grotesque character. If we include the Norman in this style, to which it certainly bears a close affinity, we shall have a great variety of forms, to be noted indeed rather for their variety and massive appearance, than for beauty of outline or decoration.
But of all capitals, those found in buildings in the modes commonly comprised under the term Gothic, hold a lofty pre-eminence, both for variety and tastefulness. What can be more chaste and elegant than the ornamentation of the early English ? or what more graceful and natural than the foliage of the decorated capital ? As to variety, it was the governing principle of decoration, there seldom being found many repetitions of one form in the same building. Nature was their model, by her alone were their designs limited, so long at least as their skill was sufficient to imitate her productions.