Week 2 Responses

Week 2 Response

The capitals in Ancient Greece and Rome were quite detailed and complex, especially the Corinthian order. Ancient Rome used five different orders, while Ancient Greece used only three, paralleling how Ancient Rome’s architecture was more ornamented than Ancient Greece’s.  In the Byzantine Empire, capitals became simpler, mirroring how the architecture also became less ornamented. This was possibly because people craved to see a change in the capitals, or because there was not enough skilled labor to construct something so intricate. The Romanesque capitals drew back to Ancient Rome’s capitals, but still were not as complex, as the style became more fortress-like.

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