South Italian, Apulia or Sicily, 11th-13th century

Sandstone, traces of gilding

On a red marble column, circa 17th century, and later stone base

145 cm. high overall, the capital 18.5 cm. high

This painted sandstone capital is decorated with stylised acanthus leaves on the lower register below a row of interwoven palm leaves. The design is related to several Corinthian capitals from the ‘Tower of the Winds’ in the Roman Agora, Athens (built circa 50 BC), an example of which is in the British Museum, London (Mus. No. 1885,0416.2).[1] The interwoven palm leaves derive from ancient Egyptian motifs.

The small proportions and low relief carving are indicative of a medieval dating to between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, during which time objects of this kind were used for the colonnades in the cloisters or side aisles of churches and monasteries. The classicising design and partial preservation of the gilding suggests a southern Mediterranean origin.

A fifth-century Byzantine capital with similar motifs is preserved in the matroneum of the Cathedral of Saint Sabinus, Bari (see von Alten, op. cit.), suggesting how this type of Byzantine capital may have been transmitted to later craftsmen in south Italy or nearby in Sicily. A marble capital with similar design of acanthus and fluted reeds above and comparable low relief carving, catalogued as ‘Southern Italy, Apulia or Sicily, 11th/12th century’, was sold in Sotheby’s, London, Arts of the Islamic World, 8th Oct 2008, lot 87.

The distinctive type of bright red and white-veined stone used for the column is similar to rouge du Languedoc, from southern France,[2] but it differs in terms of the lighter red tone and the white calcite bands (which lack the grey borders of Languedoc), suggesting it is another as-yet unidentified type of southern French or Italian stone from an ancient quarry.

RELATED LITERATURE:

Wilken von Alten, Geschichte des altchristlichen Kapitells. Munich, 1913, p. 70, pl. VIII, fig. 4

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[1] For details and images of this capital, see British Museum website: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1885-0416-2

[2] For an image of a sample of rouge du Languedoc, see Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones website, no. 208: https://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/corsi/stones/view/208