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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 order 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."Volute". A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. James Stevens Curl. Oxford University Press, 2006
The word derives from the Latin language voluta ("scroll"). It has been suggested that the ornament was inspired by the curve of a Sheep'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 geometry origin."Volute". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Timothy Darvill. Oxford University Press, 2002
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 Ancient Rome architect Vitruvius through the study of classical buildings and structures.
The volute is also a basic universal shape, which is why it cannot be associated with only one culture or period. They are just as popular in Oceanic art as they are in Rococo.
File:Clay 'frying pan' (3rd millennia B.C.) at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens on October 6, 2021.jpg|Cycladic art volutes on a 'frying pan', 2750-2200 BC, ceramic, National Archaeological Museum, Athens
File:AMI - Kamaresvase 1.jpg|Minoan volutes on a jug, 1850-1675 BC, ceramic, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Heraklion, Greece
Schieferzepter 03 (cropped).jpg|Minoan volutes on a sceptre head, 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, 1390–1353 BC, dried mud, mud plaster and paint Gesso, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
File: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
File: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
File: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
File: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
File:Chapiteau d'une colonne de l'apadana du Palais de Darius Ier - Musée du Louvre Antiquités orientales AOD 1.jpgPersian volutes on a bull capital, under the bulls, 510 BC, limestone, Lovre
File:Erechteion - chapiteau.jpg|Ancient Greek volutes of a capital from an Ionic order columns of the Erechtheion, Athens, Greece, unknown architect, 421-405 BC
File:Greece-0113 - North Porch (2215074445).jpg|Ancient Greek volutes of a corbel of the Erechtheion
File:Crater Actaeon Louvre CA3482.jpg|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 order capital from the tholos at Epidaurus, Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus, Greece, said to have been designed by Polyclitus the Younger, 350 BC
Image:Marble akroterion MET DT259543.jpg|Ancient Greek pair of volutes on an akroterion, 350–325 BC, marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:MANNapoli 9991 Young Dionysos Tigre mosaic.jpg|Roman art volutes around a mosaic of young Dionysos drinking and riding a tiger, late 4th century BC, mosaic, National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy
File: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, 300-150 BC
Jade Monster Mask and Ring.jpg|Ancient Chinese volutes and mascaron on an ornamental handle of a bi disc, 100 BC, jade, Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
File: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
File: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-100 BC
File:Altar of the Scribes 03 (51221770574).jpg|Roman volutes at the top of a funerary altar, 25-50 AD, marble, Terme di Diocleziano, Rome
File: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 order capitals of the Library of Celsus, Ephesus, Turkey, unknown architect, 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
File:Bury Bible - F1v - Frater Ambrosius.jpg|Romanesque art foliage volutes on a page from the Bury Bible, by Master Hugo, 1135-1140, illumination on parchment, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, the UK
File:Anneau portail de la Vierge Notre-Dame de Paris.jpg|Gothic volutes on the Ironwork on a door of Notre Dame de Paris, unknown architect or blacksmith, 12th or 13th centuries
File:Sant' Agostino (Rom).jpg|Renaissance volutes of the Sant'Agostino, Rome, by multiple architects, 1483
File:Italia centrale, cassone con teste di gorgoni, xvi sec. 02.JPG|Renaissance art volutes on a cassone, 16th century, most probably walnut, Villa medicea di Cerreto Guidi, Cerreto Guidi, Italy
File:Fontainebleau - Le château - PA00086975 - 078.jpg|Renaissance stucco volutes on the ceiling from the King's Staircase, Palace of Fontainebleau, France, by Francesco Primaticcio, 1541-1545
File:Church of the Gesù, Rome.jpg|Baroque volutes on the upper part of the facade of the Church of the Gesù, Rome, by Giacomo della Porta, 1584
file: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
File: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
File: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, 1702, lapis lazuli, silver, and gilded bronze, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File: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
File: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
File:Rocailles, RP-P-1964-2656.jpg|Combinations of Rococo C and S-shaped volutes, by Franz Xaver Habermann, 1731-1775, etching, Rijksmuseum
File:Rocailles, RP-P-1964-2681.jpg|Combinations of Rococo C and S-shaped volutes, by Franz Xaver Habermann, 1731-1775, etching, Rijksmuseum
File: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, 1755-1760, Japanese lacquer, gilt-bronze mounts and Sarrancolin marble top, Metropolitan Museum of Art
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
File:Japanese - Tsuba with Scrollwork Design - Walters 51148.jpg|Japanese art volutes on a tsuba, unknown date, shakudo and gold, Walters Art Museum
Pair of Spindle Vases - OA 11090 - Louvre (08).jpg|Neoclassicism foliage volutes on a vase, by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, 1814, hard-paste porcelain with platinum background and gilt bronze mounts, Louvre
File: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
File: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
File: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, 1871
File:Interior of the George Severeanu Museum in Bucharest (13).jpg|Rococo Revival volutes on a wall in the George Severeanu Museum, Bucharest, unknown architect, 1900
File:47BIS Avenue Kléber, Paris (01).jpg|Rococo Revival volutes above the door of Avenue Kléber no. 47bis, Paris, unknown architect, 1908
File: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 Edgar Brandt, 1925
File: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
File: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, ()
File:1 Piața Mihail Kogălniceanu, Bucharest (03).jpg|Art Deco volutes in a relief panel on Piața Mihail Kogălniceanu no. 1, Bucharest, unknown architect, 1930
File:Michael graves per swid powell design, vaso, 1989.jpg|Postmodernism 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
(2025). 9780500519585, Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500519585
(2025). 9780500519585, Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500519585
(2025). 9781529420302, Laurence King. ISBN 9781529420302
(2025). 9781856695848, Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 9781856695848
(2025). 9781786273703, Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 9781786273703
(2025). 9780500296653, Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500296653
(2025). 9789731872032, SIMETRIA. ISBN 9789731872032
(2025). 9789731872032, SIMETRIA. ISBN 9789731872032
(2025). 9780500519141, Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500519141
File:Bull's head of the Queen's lyre from Pu-abi's grave PG 800, the Royal Cemetery at Ur, Southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. The British Museum, London..JPG| volutes at the end of the strands 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
File:Lamassu from the Throne Room (Room B) of the North-West Palace at Nimrud, Iraq, 9th century BC. The British Museum, London.jpg|Neo-Assyrian lamassu, 865-860 BC, gypsum, British Museum
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