DORIC ORDER., in architecture, the second of the five orders, being that be tween the Tuscan and Ionic.
Grecian Doric.—The earliest and most simple form of columnar edifice. The Doric column was first adapted to edi fices having the proportions, strength, and beauty of the body of a man. A man was found to be six times the length of his foot, hence the plain doric columns were made six diameters in height. The Greeks composed their beautiful temples on this idea, and their simplicity and harmony are remarkable.
Roman Doric.—An imitation of the Grecian, but in some of the best exam ples the column is eight times the diam eter in height; the shaft is quite plain except fillets above and below with es cape and corvetto, and it diminishes one fifth of its diameter. The capital is four-sevenths of a diameter high, and is composed of a torus which forms the hypotrachelium, and with the necking occupies one-third of the whole height; three deep fillets with a quarter-round molding are intended to represent the ovula and annulets of the Greek capital.
The doric order, says Palladio, was in vented by the Dorians and named from them, being a Grecian people which dwelt in Asia.
The ancients employed the doric in temples dedicated to Minerva, to Mars, and to Hercules, whose grave and manly dispositions suited well with the charac ter of this order. Serlio says it is proper for churches dedicated to Jesus Christ, to St. Paul, St. Peter, or any saints remarkable for their fortitude in exposing their lives and suffering for the Christian faith. The height of the doric column, including its capital and base, is 16 modules; and the height of the entablature, 4 modules; the latter of which being divided into eight parts, two of them are given to the architrave, three to the frieze, and the remaining three to the cornice.