Indo-Corinthian capitals are
capitalIn several traditions of architecture including Classical architecture, the capital forms the crowning member of a column or a pilaster. The capital projects on each side as it rises, to support the abacus and unite the form of the latter with the circular shaft of the column...
s crowning
columnA column in structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression...
s or
pilasterA pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, which can be found in the northwestern
Indian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
, and usually combine
HellenisticClassical architecture is the architecture of classical antiquity; chiefly the impressive public buildings, which have survived to be studied in the modern age...
and
IndianThe architecture of India is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Indian architecture progressed with time and assimilated the many influences that came as a result of India's global discourse with other regions of the world throughout its millennia-old past...
elements. These capitals are typically dated to the first centuries of our era, and constitute an important aspect of
Greco-Buddhist artGreco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE, and the Islamic...
.
Indo-Corinthian capitals display a design and foliage structure which is derived from the academic
Corinthian capitalThe Corinthian order is one of the three biggest classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. It is the most ornate, characterized by a slender fluted column and an elaborate capital decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls. The other two orders were the Doric and the Ionic...
developed in Greece. Its importation to India followed the road of Hellenistic expansion in the East in the centuries after the conquests of
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
.
Indo-Corinthian capitals are
capitalIn several traditions of architecture including Classical architecture, the capital forms the crowning member of a column or a pilaster. The capital projects on each side as it rises, to support the abacus and unite the form of the latter with the circular shaft of the column...
s crowning
columnA column in structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression...
s or
pilasterA pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, which can be found in the northwestern
Indian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
, and usually combine
HellenisticClassical architecture is the architecture of classical antiquity; chiefly the impressive public buildings, which have survived to be studied in the modern age...
and
IndianThe architecture of India is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Indian architecture progressed with time and assimilated the many influences that came as a result of India's global discourse with other regions of the world throughout its millennia-old past...
elements. These capitals are typically dated to the first centuries of our era, and constitute an important aspect of
Greco-Buddhist artGreco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE, and the Islamic...
.
Corinthian design
Indo-Corinthian capitals display a design and foliage structure which is derived from the academic
Corinthian capitalThe Corinthian order is one of the three biggest classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. It is the most ornate, characterized by a slender fluted column and an elaborate capital decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls. The other two orders were the Doric and the Ionic...
developed in Greece. Its importation to India followed the road of Hellenistic expansion in the East in the centuries after the conquests of
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
. In particular the
Greco-Bactrian kingdomThe Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BCE...
, centered on
BactriaBactria was the ancient name of a historical region in Central Asia, located between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya...
(today's northern
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
), upheld the type at the doorstep of India, in such places as
Ai-KhanoumAi-Khanoum or Ay Khanum , was founded in the 4th century BC, following the conquests of Alexander the Great and was one of the primary cities of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom...
until the end of the 2nd century BCE. In India, the design was often adapted, usually taking a more elongated form and sometimes being combined with scrolls, generally within the context of Buddhist
stupaA stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, once thought to be places of Buddhist worship, typically the remains of a Buddha or saint...
s and temples.
Figurines
Indo-Corinthian capitals also incorporated figures of the
BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher in the north eastern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is regarded by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha of our age. The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c...
or
BodhisattvaIn Buddhism, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." Another translation is...
s, usually as central figures surrounded by, and often under the shade of, the luxurious foliage of Corinthian designs. This practice was not limited to India, and also found favor in various areas of
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
. The depiction of figurines within the foliage of Corinthian capitals is not in itself an eastern development. In the ancient Greek world in the Mediterranean, figurines were often represented this way:
- "Figural additions are very common in the classical world, and from an early period, usually take the form of heads or busts, but the Gandhara treatment is original in that the acanthus
The acanthus is one of the most common ornaments used to depict foliage. Architectural ornaments are carved in stone or wood in the appearance of leaves from the Mediterranean Acanthus spinosus plant, with some resemblance to thistle, poppy and parsley leaves.Acanthus ornaments appear extensively...
leaves form a canopy over it."
Combinations with Buddhist architecture
Indo-Corinthian capital were also used in combination with architectural elements, such as Buddhist stupas. One of the best example was excavated and reconstituted at
SirkapSirkap is the name of an archaeological site on the bank opposite to the city of Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan.The city of Sirkap was built by the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius after he invaded India around 180 BC. Demetrius founded in the northern and northwestern Indian subcontinent an Indo-Greek...
.
- "Perhaps the most notable divergence from the western concept of function occurs at Kalawan, Taxila, where a large acanthus capital set on a lotus base was inserted between the conventional square basement and cylindrical dome of a votive stupa."
Further, in the art of
GandharaSee also Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
, Indo-Corinthian capitals on top of separating pilasters, are used extensively in narrative
friezethumb|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain or—in the Ionic or Corinthian order—decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s of the life of the Buddha. This usage continued as late as the 5th century CE.