The Pulvinar, Angulated and Angular Forms of the Ionic Capital

Pulvinar Volute

Owing to a recent commission of a bespoke Ionic pilaster capital with angular volutes, this subject has been very much on my mind. Having previously considered the history, unique ornamentation as well as the anthropomorphic and proportional theories of the Ionic Order, in this essay we'll make an even more detailed examination of it's most identifying feature: the large and very conspicuous volutes. There are really two distinct ways of constructing the capital and a hybrid version developed by the Greeks that I quite like. I suppose that technically the designations pulvinar, angulated and angular are intended to describe the volutes only; nevertheless, in pracitse they're often used to refer to the entire capital and I'll alternate between both usages here. We'll start our consideration with the most commonly occurring or 'standard' Ionic capital: the pulvinar.

The Pulvinar Ionic Volute

Portico, Jefferson Memorial

The word 'pulvinus' comes directly from Latin and it means 'cushion' or 'pillow' or alternatively the swelling of the stem at the base of a leaf. In architectural and craft usage the pulvinus may also be referred to as a 'bolster' as it resembles an extended cushion or scroll that connects the front and rear volutes of the capital. This version of the Ionic capital’s front and rear elevations differ from its side elevations. This can sometimes result in awkward transitions with the pulvinar side of the capital  in elevation when  the columns turn the right, 90° corner such as typically encountered in deep porticos or peripteral (surrounded on all sides) colonnades. The following variation of the Ionic capital was developed by the Greeks to address this very problem.

The Angulated Ionic Volute

The Erechtheion
Stuart & Revett

On the Acropolis overlooking Athens, the Classical Greeks employed the 'angulated' solution on two of their temples dedicated to Athena: the famous Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. Instead of volutes expressed front and back, for the corner capitals they are placed front and side so as to face the exterior with the exterior corner volute extending out at a 45° angle. By contrast, the two sides of the corner capitals facing the interior are pulvinar in elevation, creating an awkward but largely unseen 90° collision of the inner volutes. This solution would continue to be occasionally employed by the Romans as well, a notable surviving example being the Temple Portunus along the Tiber.

Temple of Athena Nike

The Angular Ionic Volute

Arch of Septimius Severus

The Romans went on to develop an additional order that we now call the Composite whose capital combined the lower acanthus rows of the Corinthian with the large volutes of the Ionic. In doing so they took the angulated solution from the Greek Ionic and employed it for all four corners. This 'angular' design was then used for all the capitals of a colonnade not just the corner capital. They also applied this solution directly to the Ionic Order itself as is evidenced by the surviving example of a single colonnade of the Temple of Saturn.

Temple of Saturn, Rome

Scamozzi Ionic

It was really during the Late Renaissance that the angular Ionic came into widespread architectural use with the publishing of Vincenzo Scamozzi's monumental architectural treatise: L’Idea dell’Architettura Universale (The Idea of an Universal Architecture). Scamozzi was a student of Palladio, and his approach to the capital was well received by the British during their Palladian movement, most notably by architect James Gibbs with his own 18th century architectural treatise, Rules for Drawing the Several Parts of Architecture, that featured a "Scamozzi" type Ionic capital. This quite naturally found its way into the architecture of Colonial America and continued through American Independence.

With the overthrow of the Ottomans during the 19th century Greek war of Independence, increased opportunity was opened up for visiting Classical Greek archeological sites, ruins and remains. This sparked a massive revival of Greek architectural forms including their variations of the Ionic Order. As a result, we're quite blessed to have the full spectrum of Greek, Roman, Renaissance and beyond, including some incredibly creative and interesting variants available for our enjoyment such as my personal favourite, the "Cherubim" Angular Ionic of All Souls Church.

Contributed by Patrick Webb