COLUMN COMPONENTS FROM THE BASE UP TO THE CAPITAL
The column base has its name from Latin and means pedestal. This forms therefore the lowest part of a column which lies in most cases on a square plate. After the base comes the column shaft which can be straight or slightly conical or with linear grooves (cannelures). The upper end of a column forms the capital, which has received its name from Latin “capitellum” for small head and finds in most cases a usage also with a square plate.
THE CAPITAL AND ITS DIFFERENT FORMS
In the Greek architecture, beside the Doric capital, which even today are very much widespread, with its rings or beads plus square plate there was also the Ionic capital with its striking spirals or the Corinth capital with its typical shape of leaves, which should represent the acanthus leaf.