CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

This article appears in Volume V05, Page 278 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: CAL-CAR

CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head) , in architecture, the crowning member of the column, which projects on each side as it rises, in order to support the abacus and unite the square form of the latter with the circular

shaft

. The bulk of the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

may either be convex, as in the Doric

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

; concave, as in the bell of the Corinthian capital; or bracketed out, as in the Ionic capital. These are the three principal types on which all capitals are based. The capitals of Greek, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders are given in the article ORDER.
From the prominent position it occupies in all monumental buildings, it has always been the favourite feature selected for ornamentation, and consequently it has become the clearest indicator of any style.
The two earliest capitals of importance are those which are based on the lotus (fig. 1) and papyrus (fig. 2) plants respectively, and these, with the palm tree capital, were the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

types employed by the Egyptians down to the 3rd century B.C., when,
Surface-Tensions of Liquids at their Point of Solidification.
From Quincke.
Table of Surface-Tension at 2o C. (Quincke).
Liquid. Specific Tension of surface Angle of contact with
separating the liquid from glass in presence of
Gravity.
Air. Water. Mercury. Air. Water. Mercury.
Water . . I 81 418 25 32' 26 8'
Mercury 13.5432 540 418 . . 51 8' 26 8'
Bisulphide of Carbon 1.2687 32.1 41.75 372'5 32 16' 15 8' ..
Chloroform ... . . P4878 30.6 29.5 399
Alcohol 0.9906 25.5 . 399 25 12'
Olive Oil 0.9136 36.9 20.56 335 21 50' 17 47 2'
Turpentine 0.8867 29.7 11.55 250.5 37 44' 37 44' 472'
Petroleum. . . 0.7977 31.7 27.8 284 36 20' 42 46' . .
Hydrochloric Acid . 1.1 70. I .. 377
Solution of Hyposul- 1.1248 77.5 442'5 23 20' 10 42'
phite of Soda
276
under the Ptolemaic dynasties, various river plants were employed decoratively and the lotus capital goes through
various modifications (fig. 3). Some kind of volute capital is shown in the Assyrian bas-reliefs, but no Assyrian capital has ever been found; those exhibited as such in the British Museum are bases.
The Persian capital belongs to the third class above mentioned, the brackets are carved with the lion (fig. 4) or the griffin projecting right and left to support and lessen the bearing of the architrave, and on their backs carry other brackets at right angles to support the cross timbers. The profuse decoration underneath the bracket capital in the palace of Xerxes and
elsewhere, serves no structural

function

FUNCTION

, but gives some variety to the extenuated

shaft

.
The earliest Greek capital is that shown in the Temple-fresco at Cnossus in Crete (IGoo B.e.); it was of the first typeconvex, and was probably moulded in stucco: the second is represented by the richly carved example of the columns (fig. 5) flanking the tomb of Agamemnon in Mycenae (c. I',Do B.C.), also convex, carved with the chevron device, and with an apophyge on which the buds of some

flowers

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

are sculptured. The Doric capital of the temple of Apollo at Syracuse (c. 700 B.c.) follows, in which theechinus moulding has become a more definite form: this in the Parthenon reaches its culmination, where the convexity is at the top and bottom with a delicate uniting curve. The sloping side of
Mycenae.
the echinus becomes flatter in the later examples, and in the Colosseum at Rome forms a quarter round.
In the Ionic capital of the Archaic temple of Diana at Ephesus (56o B.C.) the width of the abacus is twice that of its depth, consequently the earliest Ionic capital known was virtually a
Greek capital of Bassae and the Roman version of the temple of Mars Ultor (fig. 7).
The foliage of the Greek Corinthian capital was based on the Acanthus spinosus, that of the Roman on the Acanthus mollis; the capital of the temple of Vesta and other examples at Pompeii are carved with
foliage of a different FIG. 7.-Roman Capital from the Temple type. of Mars Ultor, Rome.
Byzantine capitals
are of endless variety; the Roman composite capital would seem to have been the favourite type they followed at first: subsequently, the

block

of stone was left rough as. it came from the quarry, and the sculptor, set to carve it, evolved
3.-Modified Lotus Capital from Philae.
from

Persepolis

PERSEPOLIS

.
new types of design to his own fancy, so that one rarely
meets with many repetitions of the same design. One of the most remarkable is the capital in which the leaves are carved as if blown by the rind; the finest example being in Sta

Sophia

SOPHIA (1630-1714)

, Thessalonica; those in St Mark's, Venice (fig. 8) specially attracted Ruskin's fancy. Others are found ill St Apollinare-in-classe, Ravenna. The Thistle and Pine capital is
Capital. the Church of S. Vitale, Ravenna.
found in St Mark's, Venice; St Luke's, Delphi; the mosques of Kairawan and of Ibn Tulun, Cairo, in the two latter cases
being taken from Byzantine churches. The

illustration

ILLUSTRATION

of the capital in S. Vitale, Ravenna (figs. 9 and in) shows above it the dosseret required to carry the arch, the springing of which was much wider than the abacus of the capital.
The Romanesque and Gothic capitals throughout Europe present the same variety as in the Byzantine and for the same
reason, that the artist evolved his conception of the design from the

block

he was carving, but in these styles it goes further on account of the clustering of columns and piers.
The earliest type of capital in Lombardy and Germany is that which is known as the, cushion-cap, in which the lower portion of the cube block has been cut away to meet the circular shaft (fig. 11). These early types were generally painted at first with various geometrical designs, afterwards carved.
In Byzantine capitals, the eagle, the lion and the lamb are occasionally carved, but
treated conventionally.
In the Romanesque and Gothic styles, in addition to birds and beasts, figures are frequently introduced into capitals, those in the Lombard work being rudely carved and verging on the grotesque; later, the sculpture reaches a higher standard; in the
cloisters of Monreale .iuuili (fig. 12) the birds being wonderfully true to FIG. nature. In England and
France (figs. 13 and 14), the figures introduced into the capitals are sometimes full of character. These capitals, however, are not equal to those
of theEarlyEnglish school, in which the foliage is conventionally treated as if it had been copied from metal work, and is of infinite variety, being found in small

village

VILLAGE

churches as well as in cathedrals.
Reference has only been made to the' leading examples of the Roman capitals; in the Renaissance period (fig. 15) the feature became of
the greatest importance and its variety almost as great as in the Byzantine and Gothic styles. The pilaster, which
Alv "' in IMri ~~lc
. l~ll~l n' If `ry"~
14.-Gothic Capitals from Amiens Cathedral.
S. Maria dei Miracoli, Venice.
was employed so extensively in the Revival, called for new combinations in the designs for its capitals. Most of the ornament can be traced to Roman sources, and although less vigorous, shows much more delicacy and refinement in its carving. (R. P. S.)

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