Upper Column and Entablature

The Capital is the principal distinguishing feature of an order of architecture. This capital is Ionic. At the bottom of the capital just above the shaft is an astragal molding carved with bead and reel ornament topped by an ovolo molding ornamented by egg and dart. The ornamented ovolo on an Ionic capital is also called an echinus. Narrow flat moldings called fillets emerging from behind the echinus form scroll-shaped elements called volutes that meet at the four corners. Short bay leaf swags hang from the intersections of the volutes and the echinus. The abacus above the volutes, with a profile formed by a cavetto, a fillet, and an astragal, transfers the load from the entablature above the column. The abacus has a foliate ornament, called a fleuron, in the center of each concave face.