Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus c4.s3.46

c4.s3.46

The capitals of the Grecian columns invariably mark the distinction of the several orders: those of the Indian are varied at pleasure, though not without regard to the diameter and length of the shaft; and the forms of the plainest of them, though they have in reality nothing in common with the Grecian order, are found at a distant view to bear some resemblance to the Doric and Ionic capitals; but those of a more elaborate kind are sometimes so overloaded with a sort of filligree ornaments, as to destroy the effect of the beautiful proportions of the whole. The Egyptian capitals, on the other hand, are formed into elegant vase shapes, decorated with the stalks, leaves, and blossoms of the lotus, and occasionally with palm leaves, which latter ornaments are supposed to have given the first idea of the Corinthian capitals. And in some specimens, the Egyptian capital is composed of the representation of the head of the goddess Isis.