The Corinthian Order, which was posterior to the other two, took its rise from an acci dent related by Virtruvius. A basket, with a tile over it, had been placed on the tomb of a young Corinthian maid, near which grew the herb acanthus, or bear's breech. The leaves of this plant rising up to the tile, then curled themselves down into a sort of volute, which being observed by Callimachus, the sculptor, he took the idea of representing such a circle of leaves in the capital of a column, that has since been characteristic of the Corinthian or der. Scamozzi calls this the virginal order, because itbears all the delicacy in its dress pe culiar toyoung virgins.
The Tuscan, or Etruscan Order, derives its name from the Etruscans, or Pelasgians, who first inhabited Etruria, in Italy ; this is there fore looked upon as a Roman order. It has the proportions of the Doric order ; but as it is one of the plainest and simplest orders, it is in all probability one of the most ancient. Vitruvius speaks of the proportions of this order, but there are no certain remains of it, unless we except the Trojan and Antonin pillars at Rome.
The Composite or Roman Order, is so call ed because it combines the proportions and de corations of the Corinthian order, with the angular volute and dentils of the Ionian, thus forming a new order, which was adopted by the Romans.
Both the Greeks and Romans were in the practice of using the figures of men and wo men instead of regular columns, whence aroso the Persian or Persic Order, in which the statues of men, and the Caryatic Order, in which the statues of women served to sup port the entablatures, in the place of columns. The Romans had also their Termini for the support of entablatures, the upper part of which represented the head and breast of a hu man body, and the lower the inverted frustrum of a square pyramid. Persian figures are ge nerally charged with a Doric entablature; the Caryatides with an Ionic or Corinthian ar chitrave and cornice; and the Termini with an entablature of any of the three Grecian or ders.
In their private buildings, the Roman archi tects followed the Greeks ; but in their public edifices they far surpassed them in grandeur. Architecture was carried to its highest pitch of perfection in the reign of Augustus. The Pantheon, one of the finest monuments of an tiquity, was built by Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus. Some of his successors, parti cularly Trojan and Antoninus, were no less fa vourable to the exercise of this art; but on the decline of the empire, architecture shared the fate of other arts, and declined also, but did not altogether drop. New modes of building were introduced, which acquired the name of styles ; as the Gothic, Saxon, and Norman styles.
The Gothic style was so called because it was first used by the Visigoths. The Saxon and Norman styles was so called because they were respectively used by the Saxons before the Conquest, and by the Normans after, in the building of churches. The Saxon style was distinguished by the semicircular arch, which they seem to have taken partly from the Romans, and partly from their ancestors on the continent.
The Norman style was distinguished by the following particulars : the walls were very thick, generally without buttresses ; the arches, both within and without, semicircular, and supported by very plain and solid columns ; of which examples are to be seen in the chan cel at Oxford in Suffolk, and at Christ Church, Canterbury. Sometimes, however, the co lumns were decorated with carvings of foliage or animals, and sometimes with spirals, lo zenge, or network.
These two styles continued to be the prevail ing modes of building in England until the reign of Henry IL when a new mode was in troduced, which was called modern Gothic. Whether this was purely a deviation from the other two modes,or whether it was derived from any foreign source, is not known. It is, how ever, supposed to be of Saracenic extraction, and to have been introduced by the crusaders. This supposition is strengthened by the fact, that the mosques and palaces of Fez, and also some of the cathedrals in Spain built by the Moors, are in this style; which ought therefore to be called Arabic, Saracenic, or Moresque. This style is distinguished by its numerous but tresses, lofty spires and pinnacles, large and ramified windows, with a profusion of orna ments throughout. It came into general use in the reign of Henry III. ; when the circular gave way to the pointed arch, and the massive column to the slender pillar, of which the pre sent cathedral church of Salisbury, begun at that period, affords the best specimen. From that time to the reign of Henry VIIL the pil lars in churches were of Purbeck marble, very slender and round, encompassed with marble shafts a little detached, having each a capital adorned with foliage, which joining formed one elegant capital for the whole pillar. The windows were long and narrow, With pointed arches and painted glass; and the lofty stee ples were furnished with spires and pinnacles. In the of Henry VIII. a new kind of low pointed arch was introduced, which was described from four centres, was very round et the haunches, and the angle at the top was very obtuse, as may be seen in Cardinal Wol sey's buildings. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the taste for Greek and Roman ar chitecture revived, and brought the five orders again into use, although for sacred edifices the Saxon and Gothic styles still maintain the pre-eminence. The Italians were for a long time reckoned the greatest architects, but Eng land may also boast of an Inigo Jones and a Sir Christopher Wren, who hold a very high rank in the art. Inigo Jones has left the ban houseat Whitehall, Queen Catherine's Cha at St. James's, the Piazza at Covent Gar n, and other buildings, as proofs of his skill and taste. The works of Sir Christo pher Wren even surpass those of his prede cessor, both in number and magnitude. Among these stano foremost the Cathedral of St. Paul's, Green Nich Hospital, the Monte 'ment, Chelsea Hospital, the Theatre at Ox ford, Trinity College Library, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge ; besides upwards of fifty two churches, and innumerable other public buildings.