The
Ionic order forms one of the
three orders of
classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the
Doric and the
Corinthian. (There are two lesser orders, the stocky
Tuscan order and the rich variant of Corinthian, the
Composite order, added by 16th-century Italian architectural theory and practice.) The Ionic columns are the most thin and small columns out of the three canonic orders.