<P> The Renaissance period saw renewed interest in the literary sources of the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome, and the fertile development of a new architecture based on classical principles . The treatise De architectura by Roman theoretician, architect and engineer Vitruvius, is the only architectural writing that survived from Antiquity . Rediscovered in the 15th century, Vitruvius was instantly hailed as the authority on architecture . However, in his text the word order is not to be found . To describe the four species of columns (he only mentions: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian) he uses, in fact, various words such as: genus (gender), mos (habit, fashion, manner), opera (work). </P> <P> The term order, as well as the idea of redefining the canon started circulating in Rome, at the beginning of the 16th century, probably during the studies of Vitruvius' text conducted and shared by Peruzzi, Raphael and Sangallo . Ever since, the definition of the canon has been a collective endeavor that involved several generations of European architects, from Renaissance and Baroque periods, basing their theories both on the study of Vitruvius' writings and the observation of Roman ruins (the Greek ruins became available only after Greek Independence, 1821--23). What was added were rules for the use of the Architectural Orders, and the exact proportions of them down to the most minute detail . Commentary on the appropriateness of the orders for temples devoted to particular deities (Vitruvius I. 2.5) were elaborated by Renaissance theorists, with Doric characterized as bold and manly, Ionic as matronly, and Corinthian as maidenly . </P> <P> Following the examples of Vitruvius and the five books of the Regole generali di architettura sopra le cinque maniere de gli edifici by Sebastiano Serlio, published from 1537 onwards, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola produced an architecture rule book that was not only more practical than the previous two treatises, but also was systematically and consistently adopting, for the first time, the term order to define each of the five different species of columns inherited from Antiquity . A first publication of the various plates, as separate sheets, appeared in Rome in 1562, with the title: Regola delli Cinque Ordini di Architettura (Canon of the Five Orders of Architecture). As David Watkin has pointed out, Vignola's book "was to have an astonishing publishing history of over 500 editions in 400 years in ten languages, Italian, Dutch, English, Flemish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, during which it became perhaps the most influential book of all times". The book consisted simply of an introduction followed by 32 annotated plates, highlighting the proportional system with all the minute details of the Five Architectural Orders . According to Christof Thoenes, the main expert of Renaissance architectural treatises, "in accordance with Vitruvius's example, Vignola chose a "module" equal to a half - diameter which is the base of the system . All the other measurements are expressed in fractions or in multiples of this module . The result is an arithmetical model, and with its help each order, harmoniously proportioned, can easily be adapted to any given height, of a façade or an interior . From this point of view, Vignola's Regola is a remarkable intellectual achievement ". (1) </P> <P> In America, The American Builder's Companion, written in the early 19th century by the architect Asher Benjamin, influenced many builders in the eastern states, particularly those who developed what became known as the Federal style . The last American re-interpretation of Vignola's Regola, was edited in 1904 by William Robert Ware . </P>

The difference between doric ionic and corinthian columns