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Vitruvius on Architecture, Monacelli Press

Of Corinthian architecture, Vitruvius knew little and cared less. He characterized the Corinthian style, which was still under development during his lifetime, as a distinctive capital (shown here) resting on an essentially Ionic system of columns. Vitruvius does tell us, however, that the fifth-century B.C. Greek sculptor Callimachus invented the Corinthian capital, having been inspired by an arrangement of acanthus leaves (Book IV, 1.9–10).