In traditional classical archaeology, used principally of: (1) an important stage of Greek vase-painting, notably the Proto-Corinthian and Corinthian schools of c720-550 bc, to which may be attributed perhaps the invention of Blackfigure technique, and some new shapes, such as the graceful aryballos; (2) the Corinthian ‘order’ in classical architecture, characterized by a capital having a bell-shaped echinus (see capital) decorated with a combination of spiral and plant (especially acanthus) motifs. The innovation is traditionally ascribed to Callimachus of Corinth (o450-425 bc). The Corinthian capital became very popular with Roman architects, who adapted it in many free variations, and reappears again in the so-called ‘composite’ order — a combination of four-sided Ionic and See also Corinth.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied