Composite Order.
Among their various attempts to improve the order which has just been described, the Romans hit upon one which is extremely characteristic of their whole style of art. This is known by the distinguishing name of the Composite order, though virtually more like the typical examples of the Corinthian order than many of those classed under the latter denomination.
The greatest defect of the Corinthian capital is the weakness of the small volutes supporting the angles of the abacus. A true artist would have remedied this by adding to their strength and carrying up the fulness of the capital to the top. The Romans removed the whole of the upper part and substituted an Ionic capital instead. Their only original idea, if it may be so called, in art was that of putting two dissimilar things together to make one which should combine the beauties of both, though as a rule the one generally serves to destroy the other. In the Composite capital they never could hide the junction; and consequently, though rich, and in some respects an improvement on the order out of which it grew, this capital never came into general use, and has seldom found favour except amongst the blindest admirers of all that the Romans did.
182. Composite Order.
183. Corinthian Base, found in Church of St. Praxede in Rome.
In the latter days of the Empire the Romans attempted another innovation which promised far better success, and with very little more elaboration would have been a great gain to the principles of architectural design. This was the introduction of the Persian or Assyrian base, modified to suit the details of the Corinthian or Composite orders. If they had always used this instead of the square pedestals on which they mounted their columns, and had attenuated the pillars slightly when used with arcades, they would have avoided many of the errors they fell into. This application, however, came too late to be generally used; and the forms already introduced continued to prevail. At the same time it is evident that a Persepolitan base for an Ionic and even for a Corinthian column would be amongst the greatest improvements that could now be introduced, especially for internal architecture.
Composite Arcades.
The true Roman order, however, was not any of these columnar ordinances we have been enumerating, but an arrangement of two pillars placed at a distance from one another nearly equal to their own height, and having a very long entablature, which in consequence required to be supported in the centre by an arch springing from piers. This, as will be seen from the annexed woodcut, was in fact merely a screen of Grecian architecture placed in front of a construction of Etruscan design. Though not without a certain richness of effect, still, as used by the Romans, these two systems remain too distinctly dissimilar for the result to be pleasing, and their use necessitated certain supplemental arrangements by no means agreeable. In the first place, the columns had to be mounted on pedestals, or otherwise an entablature proportional to their size would have been too heavy and too important for a thing so useless and so avowedly a mere ornament. A projecting keystone was also introduced into the arch. This was unobjectionable in itself, but when projecting so far as to do the duty of an intermediate capital, it overpowered the arch without being equal to the work required of it.