Death and the Maiden
Did the sculptor, Callimachus, know the girl before her death? Was their first meeting at her graveside? Or is the entire story an apocryphal fiction created to explain the inspiration for Callimachus’ greatest contribution to architecture, the Corinthian capital?
It’s impossible to be sure of ephemeral events like a walk through of a graveyard in the ancient Greek city-state of Corinth. If it did happen and Callimachus actually wrote of the journey, it’s been lost. A recounting of the event by Vitruvius may have simply been an origin story for his third Order of Architecture. He was, after all, an author as well as an architect and engineer, and may have dramatized matters. Simply relating the Corinthian Order was first created in the Greek state of Corinth is a little dull in comparison.
The Discovery of the Corinthian
Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian Orders.
Entablature
Vitruvius’ masterwork, “De architectura”, detailed all five Orders, including the Corinthian. As related in the previous article, the Orders are distinguished by their entablatures and columns.
What set the Corinthian column apart from the other Orders? It wasn’t the twenty-four flutes engraved in its column, as the Ionic has a matching number. And the Corinthian shaft was only slightly more willowy than its cousins, standing as tall as ten diameters of its column’s shaft.
Capital
The most engaging feature was, without doubt, the Corinthian column’s capital. This was Callimachus’ contribution. A Corinthian capital bursts upwards with two layers of stylized acanthus leaves, one set upon the other. Above both, scrolls are caught in mid-unfurling.
This is a drastic departure from all other capitals of the time. The Ionic and Doric capitals were far more staid. It’s understandable that Vitruvius thought that it must have had a vivid inspiration.
Brunelleschi: the Pazzi chapel and the Barbadori or Capponi chapel
Construction Drawing of a Corinthian Capital
Votive Basket or Calathus
Calathus
On the fateful, or mythical, day that Callimachus strolled through that Greek graveyard, he saw an uncommon site. On the girl’s grave was a votive basket. This should have been rare, as the high child mortality rate of ancient civilizations, votive offerings would have been reserved for adults, most likely exceptional contributors to the community.
The other odd detail is the length of time the basket -- or calathus -- must have remained on the grave: long enough that the acanthus leaves -- also an offering to the deceased -- had taken root and grown through the fibers of the basket. This can take over three months, depending on weather and soil conditions. And what did the calathus contain? Normally it was used to transport wool or fruit or even small animals, but this particular one was reported to have contained the girl’s toys.
Volutes
Somebody cared deeply for this child. They even placed a roofing tile over the basket to further protect its contents. For Callimachus, this may have reminded him of an entablature being held aloft by its capital. The weight of the tile reportedly caused the leaves to roll into the volutes that crown Corinthian capitals.
Volutes of the Corinthian Capital
Capitals at Capitols
Regardless of the veracity of Vitruvius’ story, the lasting popularity of the Corinthian capital and its Order is undeniable. Its verdant glory has crowned the columns of the Roman Pantheon and the United States Capitol.
Corinthian Columns at Pantheon Rome
Corinthian Capitals at United States Capitol
Corinthian Form
In closing, Vitruvius compared the proportions of Doric and Ionic columns to that of a man and a woman. He also stated:
“The third order, called Corinthian, is an imitation of the slenderness of a maiden; for the outlines and limbs of maidens, being more slender on account of their tender years, admit of prettier effect in the way of adornment.”
Further evidence for an invented connection between Callimachus and the Corinthian capital? Or more proof its inspiration grew from the soil of a child’s grave?
Looking to the top of a Corinthian column may be the only way to know.