Volute

For other uses, see Volute (disambiguation).

Examples of Ionic volutes. From Julien David LeRoy, Les ruines plus beaux des monuments de la Grèce, Paris, 1758 (Plate XX)

A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an Ionic capital, eight on Composite capitals and smaller versions (sometimes called helix) on the Corinthian capital.

The word derives from the Latin voluta ("scroll"). It has been suggested that the ornament was inspired by the curve of a ram's horns, or perhaps was derived from the natural spiral found in the ovule of a common species of clover native to Greece. Alternatively, it may simply be of geometrical origin.

The ornament can be seen in Renaissance and Baroque architecture and is a common decoration in furniture design, silverware and ceramics. A method of drawing the complex geometry was devised by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius through the study of classical buildings and structures.

Gallery

• 库库特尼陶碗陶罐.JPG

  Prehistoric Cucuteni–Trypillia volutes on some vessels, c.4300–4000 BC, ceramic, Moldavia National Museum Complex, Iași, Romania

• Clay 'frying pan' (3rd millennia B.C.) at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens on October 6, 2021.jpg

  Cycladic volutes on a 'frying pan', c.2750-2200 BC, ceramic, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

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  Sumerian volutes at the end of a bull mascaron of the queen's lyre, one of the Lyres of Ur, 2600 BC, wood, lapis lazuli, limestone (red), bitumen, gold, shell, British Museum

• AMI - Kamaresvase 1.jpg

  Minoan volutes on a jug, c.1850-1675 BC, ceramic, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Heraklion, Greece

• Schieferzepter 03 (cropped).jpg

  Minoan volutes on a sceptre head, c.1675-1460 BC, schist, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion

• Ceiling painting from the palace of Amenhotep III MET DT256117.jpg

  Ancient Egyptian volutes on a ceiling painting from the palace of Amenhotep III, c.1390–1353 BC, dried mud, mud plaster and paint Gesso, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

• Fresco, rosettes, running spirals, Tiryns, 13th c BC, AM of Nafplio, 202135.jpg

  Mycenaean volutes, part of a mural from a palace in Tiryns, Greece, 13th century BC, fresco, Archaeological Museum of Nafplion, Nafplio, Greece

• Egyptian - Thoth-Baboon - Walters 481543 (cropped).jpg

  Ancient Egyptian amulet of Thoth as a baboon holding an eye of Horus, with a volute in the lower left part of the eye, 664-332 BC, Egyptian faience with light green glaze, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, US

• Patera, bronze, nude man, 6th c BC, NAMA Kar 19, 225635.jpg

  Ancient Greek pair of volutes at the base of the handle of a patera, 6th century BC, bronze, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

• Musée de Pergame (Berlin) (6350108264).jpg

  Neo-Babylonian volutes on the wall panel from the Throne Room of Nebuchadnezzar II from Babylon, Iraq, 6th century BC, glazed ceramic, Pergamon Museum, Berlin

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  Ancient Greek volutes of a capital from an Ionic columns of the Erechtheion, Athens, Greece, unknown architect, 421-405 BC

• Greece-0113 - North Porch (2215074445).jpg

  Ancient Greek volutes of a corbel of the Erechtheion

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  Ancient Greek volutes on a krater, by the Painter of the Woolly Satyrs, 450–440 BC, ceramic, Louvre

• Corinthian capital, AM of Epidauros, 202545.jpg

  Ancient Greek volutes (called caulicoli) in the upper part of a Corinthian capital from the tholos at Epidaurus, Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus, Greece, said to have been designed by Polyclitus the Younger, c.350 BC

• Marble akroterion MET DT259543.jpg

  Ancient Greek pair of volutes on an akroterion, 350–325 BC, marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art

• MANNapoli 9991 Young Dionysos Tigre mosaic.jpg

  Roman volutes around a mosaic of young Dionysos drinking and riding a tiger, late 4th century BC, mosaic, National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy

• Didyma 2013-03-25zd.jpg

  Ancient Greek foliage volutes (aka rinceaux) on a capital from the ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey, unknown architect or sculptor, c.300-150 BC

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  Roman volute of an Ionic capital, 1st century BC or AD, unknown stone, Antiquarium di Milano, Milan, Italy

• Panel of Tellus, Ara Pacis, Rome (II).jpg

  Roman foliage volutes in an arabesque on the Ara Pacis, Rome, unknown architect and sculptors, 13-9 BC

• Approach to Grand stupa of Sanchi, north face India 2015.jpg

  Buddhist volutes on the Great Stupa of Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh, India), unknown architect, 3rd century-c.100 BC

• Altar of the Scribes 03 (51221770574).jpg

  Roman volutes at the top of a funerary altar, 25-50 AD, marble, Terme di Diocleziano, Rome

• Flickr - Gaspa - File, padiglione di Traiano (2).jpg

  Ancient Egyptian volutes on a Composite capital from Trajan's Kiosk, Agilkia Island, Egypt, 98-117, unknown architect

• Ephesos 2013-03-26zf.jpg

  Roman volutes of Composite capitals of the Library of Celsus, Ephesus, Turkey, unknown architect, c.110

• Hagia Sophia (15468276434).jpg

  Byzantine volutes of an Ionic capital in the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, by Anthemius of Tralles or Isidore of Miletus, 6th century

• Bury Bible - F1v - Frater Ambrosius.jpg

  Romanesque foliage volutes on a page from the Bury Bible, by Master Hugo, c.1135-1140, illumination on parchment, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, the UK

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  Gothic volutes on the wrought-iron on a door of Notre Dame de Paris, unknown architect or blacksmith, 12th or 13th centuries

• Sant' Agostino (Rom).jpg

  Renaissance volutes of the Sant'Agostino, Rome, by multiple architects, 1483

• Italia centrale, cassone con teste di gorgoni, xvi sec. 02.JPG

  Renaissance volutes on a cassone, 16th century, most probably walnut, Villa medicea di Cerreto Guidi, Cerreto Guidi, Italy

• Fontainebleau - Le château - PA00086975 - 078.jpg

  Renaissance stucco volutes on the ceiling from the King's Staircase, Palace of Fontainebleau, France, by Francesco Primaticcio, c.1541-1545

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  Baroque volutes on the upper part of the facade of the Church of the Gesù, Rome, by Giacomo della Porta, 1584

• Leisthaus-hameln-details.jpg

  Northern Renaissance volutes on the Leisthaus, Hamelin, Germany, by the master builder Cord Tönnis, 1585-1589

• Charlottenburg Palace, 1695-1746, Berlin (20) (40185455721).jpg

  Baroque volutes of a cartouche with putti, above a mirror in the bedchamber of the Mecklenburg Apartment, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin, unknown architect, 17th century

• Santa Maria della Salute a Venezia dettaglio.jpg

  Baroque volutes on the Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, Italy, by Baldassare Longhena, 1631-1687

• Carpet with Fame and Fortitude MET DP212204.jpg

  Baroque foliage volutes on a carpet with fame and fortitude, by the Savonnerie manufactory, 1668–1685, knotted and cut wool pile, woven with about 90 knots per square inch, Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Holy-water stoup with relief of Mary of Egypt MET DT3860.jpg

  Baroque volutes on a holy-water stoup with relief of Mary of Egypt, by Giovanni Giardini and Benedetto Luti, c.1702, lapis lazuli, silver, and gilded bronze, Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Design for a Clock, from 'Disegni Diversi' MET DP830829.jpg

  Baroque volutes on a design for a clock from 'Disegni Diversi', by Giovanni Giardini and Maximilian Joseph Limpach, 1714-1750, etching and engraving, Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Rocailles, RP-P-1964-2654.jpg

  Combinations of Rococo C and S-shaped volutes, by Franz Xaver Habermann, 1731-1775, etching, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

• Rocailles, RP-P-1964-2656.jpg

  Combinations of Rococo C and S-shaped volutes, by Franz Xaver Habermann, 1731-1775, etching, Rijksmuseum

• Rocailles, RP-P-1964-2681.jpg

  Combinations of Rococo C and S-shaped volutes, by Franz Xaver Habermann, 1731-1775, etching, Rijksmuseum

• Rocailles, RP-P-1964-2666.jpg

  Combinations of Rococo C and S-shaped volutes, by Franz Xaver Habermann, 1731-1775, etching, Rijksmuseum

• Side table (commode en console) MET DP105703.jpg

  Rococo C and S-shaped volutes on a side table (commode en console), by Bernard II van Risamburgh, c.1755-1760, Japanese lacquer, gilt-bronze mounts and Sarrancolin marble top, Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Rolduc bibliotheek.jpg

  Rococo C and S-shaped volutes in the library of Rolduc, Kerkrade, Germany, by Joseph Moretti, 18th century

• Nuova zelanda, isola del nord, maori, prua di piroga taurapa, 1800-20 ca.jpg

  Māori volutes on a canoe sternpost, late 18th-early 19th century, wood and sheel, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris

• Japanese - Tsuba with Scrollwork Design - Walters 51148.jpg

  Japanese volutes on a tsuba, unknown date, shakudo and gold, Walters Art Museum

• Pair of Spindle Vases - OA 11090 - Louvre (08).jpg

  Neoclassical foliage volutes on a vase, by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, 1814, hard-paste porcelain with platinum background and gilt bronze mounts, Louvre

• Nine-light candelabrum MET DP155343.jpg

  Rococo Revival C and S-shaped volutes of a cartouche on the base of a nine-light candelabrum, 1835–1836, gilded silver, Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Fenêtre sur le toit du Palais de Justice.JPG

  Baroque Revival volutes of a dormer window (oeil-de-boeuf type) on the building of préfecture de police de Paris, Île de la Cité, by Victor Calliat, mid-19th century

• Grave of Alexandrina Grejdanescu and Barbu Grejdanescu in the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest, Romania (02).jpg

  Neoclassical volutes of a pediment with acroteria of the Grave of Alexandrina Grejdanescu and Barbu Grejdanescu, Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest, Romania, unknown architect or sculptor, c.1871

• Interior of the George Severeanu Museum in Bucharest (13).jpg

  Rococo Revival volutes on a wall in the George Severeanu Museum, Bucharest, unknown architect, c.1900

• 47BIS Avenue Kléber, Paris (01).jpg

  Rococo Revival volutes above the door of Avenue Kléber no. 47bis, Paris, unknown architect, 1908

• Grille of the Cheney Silk Company Building, New York City, 1925, designed by the French metalworking company Ferrobrandt.jpg

  Art Deco volutes on some decorative ironwork of the Madison Belmont Building (Madison Avenue no. 181–183) in New York City, by Ferrobrandt, 1925

• Edgar brandt, porte da ascensore in ferro, vetro e bronzo, francia 1926 02.jpg

  Art Deco volutes on a pair of elevator doors, by Edgar Brandt, 1926, wrought iron, glass, and patinated and gilded bronze, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon

• 77 avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris 8e 5.jpg

  Art Deco volutes on some ironwork of Avenue des Champs-Élysées no. 77 in Paris, unknown architect, (c. 1930)

• 1 Piața Mihail Kogălniceanu, Bucharest (03).jpg

  Art Deco volutes in a relief panel on Piața Mihail Kogălniceanu no. 1, Bucharest, unknown architect, c.1930

• Michael graves per swid powell design, vaso, 1989.jpg

  Postmodern volutes of a vase inspired by the Ionic capital, designed by Michael Graves for Swid Powell, 1989, glazed porcelain, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, US

• Cambridge - Gonville and Caius College - 0913.jpg

  New Classical volutes of Ionic and Corinthian columns in the Gonville and Caius College Hall, Cambridge, UK, with capitals inspired by those from the Temple of Apollo at Bassae, by John Simpson, 1998

See also

• Scrollwork
• Ionic order
• Spiral

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons