#EvolutionOfScotia
#Scotia is a new concave
#molding that we are seeing for the first time in the
#IonicOrder. Its
#primaryProfileCurve is a compound curve that is always segmented 1/3 and 2/3 from top to bottom. The two segments have different radii, but they also have a common tangent where they meet.
The scotia molding went through some evolutionary stages as shown in the sketch.
In the classic
#Vignola version, the scotia used in the column base is smaller and gouges out a portion of the bottom fillet. Vignola did that to accentuate the effect of incident light and bring out the shadows. He must have really liked the
#lightAndShade effect because he had TWO of them in the classic column base for the
#IonicColumn.
An intermediary variant then emerged in which the larger arc was tangential to the bottom fillet instead of gouging it out. It still allowed for the interplay of light and shade as it had a lip that extended above the nominal fillet. Also, it was 4/3 the size of the Vignola variant and the fillets were twice as tall, ostensibly to make the lip more conspicuous, and provide some utility or justification for the lip.
If you are into
#font design or you are an avid calligrapher, you will never look at font
#serifs the same way after looking at the intermediate evolutionary stage of the scotia. In particular, the
#Optima font is classified as
#sansSerif, but the stem in its repertoire of characters has an uncanny resemblance at the tip of the lip.
Unfortunately, the lip didn't seem durable as it was prone to chipping. While Optima still thrives, designers rejected the lip of the scotia as vestigial over time, and used an ellipse for the larger arc so that it was tangential to the fillet right where the fillet ended. This design has endured, and the variant of the column base that uses this molding is called either the "modern" base or the
#AtticBase. The etymology is from Latin
#Atticus which means ‘relating to
#Athens or
#Attica region of
#Greece.'