CALLIMACHUS, an architect and statuary, the inventor of the Corinthian column, was probably a native of Corinth. He is said to have derived the idea of the Corinthian capital from observing an acanthus plant surrounding a tile-covered basket which had been placed over a tomb. His era is uncertain; but as the Corinthian column was used in B.C. 396 by Scopas, the architect of the temple of Athena Alea at Tegea, he must have lived before that time. Though Callimachus worked admirably in marble, he is said to have spoiled his original conceptions by excessive elaboration, which rendered his style artificial. (Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19.)
Pliny mentions a painter named Callimachus, who is generally identified with the statuary, though without sufficient authority.