Layout of the Doric Mutulary Entablature
The Mutulary Doric Entablature
The Doric entablature is 2 D high, or one fourth the height of the column. Both cornice and frieze are D high and the architrave is D high.
The cornice is divided into four equal parts: the cymatium, corona, mutule and bedmold. To construct the cornice, draw a 45 degree diagonal from the D projection of the cornice and another smaller diagonal from the 1 D projection of the cornice. The smaller diagonal bisects a square which is formed from the upper third of the corona. The outer edge of the square establishes the line of the corona. The cyma recta of the cymatium and smaller cyma reversa below can then be drawn.
A fascia with mutules is below the corona. The mutules are 1 D on center. Viewed from the front, the mutule is D wide and has a cap consisting of a fillet and cyma reversa one third the height of the mutule. A horizontal line at the bottom of the mutule represents the drip edge which hides the 36 conical pegs, or guttae, on the underside of the mutule. Six guttae are visible in the side elevation. To draw the side elevation, start at the point where the lower edge of the mutule band meets the large diagonal and draw the six guttae within a D zone. The drip ends at the D projection of the cornice shown as a vertical dashed line. Below the mutules is the bedmold made up of an ovolo, a fillet and another fillet which breaks around the triglyph. This lower fillet is the cap of the trigyph.
The frieze has an alternating pattern of triglyphs and metopes. The triglyphs are D wide by D tall and centered over the columns. A diagonal line from the top of the capital at its centerline to the top of the frieze establishes the adjacent centerline for the next triglyph. Each metope is D square except at the corner column.
Triglyphs are named for their three glyphs, or grooves. There are two center glyphs separated by three solid portions known as femurs or shanks. Two half glyphs at each end are chamfered at a shallower angle than the center glyphs so that the triglyph meets the frieze at a 90 angle. To construct the triglyph, divide the width into 12 parts. The center glyphs and three femurs are two parts wide while the half glyphs are one part each. The triglyph projects 1/24 D from the face of the frieze.
A continuous large fillet called the taenia tops the architrave. The taenia is 1/12 D wide and projects from the architrave the same amount. Its projection can be drawn with a 45 degree angle from the top of the capital centerline to the upper line of the taenia. Below the taenia is a small fillet called the regula and six guttae. Each guttae projects from the fascia three quarters of its width. The upper band projects from the lower band one third the projection of the taenia. The ratio of the height of the upper band to lower band is 3 to 2.
As one constructs the Mutulary Doric order, one will see how many of the moldings and components are related to each other in simple proportions such as 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, and 2:3.
Text: Martin Brandwein
Rendering: M. Gunnison Collins