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The Ionic order was indebted for its earlier development to western Asiatic influence, notably to that of Persepolis; but its maturer beauties are to be attributed to a Doric source. Its main features are the same as in the Doric style; their forms, however, are different. The Ionic order has more mouldings, its forms are richer and more elegant, and, as a style, it is lighter and more graceful than the Doric.

Ionic Pillar in the Erechtheum at Athens

The Ionic order was indebted for its earlier development to western Asiatic influence, notably to that…