Part II. five Kinds of Columns.

This Difference of Faces in the Ionic Capital, which renders itinconvenient, has oblig’dthe Moderns , following Scamoagj,-to changeit, in making its four Faces alike, by "taking away the Ballastedbending all the Faces of the Volutes, and hallowing them inwards,as they are in the Composite Order* There are, however, two Thingsmay be cenfur’d, in the Capital of Scamozgi ; One is, that the Voluteis of an equal Thickness, whereas, in the Ionic of Fortuna fir His,and every where in the Composite Capitals, from whence this Vo-lute was taken, it goes, enlarging itself, downwards, very arace-fully. The other is, that he causes the Volute to spring from theEchinos, or Ovolo, as from a Vase, after the Manner of the Com-posite of the Moderns , who have introduc’d this Change, contrary towhat we find in most of the Composite Works of the Antique , wherethe Bark passes over the Ovolo, and under the Abacus, quite strait,and turns only at its Extremities, which form the Volute : for,without that, the Abacus of the Ionic Capital, which is only anOgee, appears too thin a Member, and seems to need Support fromthe Bark, as it has in the Ionic Volute of the Ancients . I think itmay also be objected, that the Architects, who make use of theCapital of Scamo^i y have chosen that Manner of the two, he pro-poses, which seems least suitable to the Ionic Order 5 for this Au-thor makes the Abacus two Ways; one of which, is with a Sweep,as the Volute, as it is in the Composte Order; the other is left strait,and perfectly square, as it is in the Ancient Iomc y and in that of theTemple of Manly Fortune , where, the Abacus does not extend it-self on the Corners of the Volutes, there being only a Leaf, whichsoming from under the Corner of the Abacus, turns itself downupon the Volute, and descends, till it comes just against the Eyeof the Scroul $ and still more to distinguish this Order from theComposte , there is no Flower between the Volutes.

Of late Years, Sculptors have added an Enrichment to the IonicCapital, which Scamozgi, who new modell’d it, had not inserted 3which is the making Festoons 3 that, together with the small Husksof the Volutes, Ipring from the Flower, whose Stalk lies upon thefirst Circumvolution of the Scroul : and, it seems, that theywould, thereby, represent the Curls of Hair, hanging down onboth Sides of the Face, which VitruVius would have signified by theVolutes: for, it may be said, that the Volutes represent, rather theLocks of Hair twisted up, and, that the Festoons bear more Re-semblance to the Buckles of Hair in Curl.

'Ti« farther remarkable, that there is an Opinion amongst Ar-chitects, that the Volutes of this Temple are more oval, and broad-er sideways, than they are commonly made, which is not true 3for, although the Capitals of this Building are different, and most

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