library of Celsus
At Ephesus (c. 117-20) we are treated to a controlled display of traditional, classical architectural elements presented in new guise: simple two-columnar aediculae are combined in straddle formation to achieve novel visual effects, heightened by baroque detail such as segmental and volute pediments. The notion of such elaborate columnar screens won widespread popularity, especially in theatre back-drops the length and breadth of the empire; while the language of baroque architecture finally became common currency during the second century in the architectural repertoire of the East, although it only occurred spasmodically in Italy or the West until Renaissance architects discovered it in the late fifteenth century. It is possibly also to the Hellenistic East that we must look for the origins of another highly influential idea, that of springing arches direct from columns, a device with a long and distinguished role to play from the early fourth century onwards in the architecture of the Christian church. (Boardman, 1986)