Archaeology | Capitals | Corinthian | Corinthian column capital | Artwork profile

White marble

H. 46 cm; base diam. 37 cm; abacus side max. 54 cm

Beginning of the III cent. AD


Report

Corinthian column capital

Corinthian column capital dressed, around the kalathos (h. with rim 39.5 cm), with two crowns of eight acanthus leaves that are well separated from each other and have gently curved tops, now all broken (h. of the first crown 13.5 cm; of the second crown 26.5 cm). The acanthus leaf, flattened over the surface of the kalathos, is characterized by a large central spine, which is flanked by a pair of almost vertical ridges slightly curved at the top, and has in the centre a thin incised line reaching the middle of the leaf; at either side of the midrib a further pair of curved ridges underline the lateral lobes, giving the impression of a thick series of vertical lines. Each leaf has vertical drill holes indicating, in a schematic manner and with little naturalistic resemblance, the voids separating the lobes.

The points of the lobes are carved and have an oval shape.

The cauliculi, well outlined and separated from the leaves of the second crown, show a slightly diagonal arrangement, have the shaft incised with a pair of deep parallel lines and are rimmed by a thin crown of sepals, whose division is suggested by two Y-shaped carvings; the calyxes have acanthus leaves, now badly fractured, characterized by grooves and drill holes.

The volutes are all now missing, while the helices, with the outer margin thickened and underlined by a thin incision, adhere over the surface of the kalathos remaining below its rim, end in a tight, slightly projecting coil and, at the middle of the kalathos, are linked by a small marble bridge.

The abacus rosette, devoid of the stem and of the stem leaves, is well shaped in a daisy form with a central serpentine button; the lower petals touch the upper margin of the helices. The kalathos rim (h. 1.7 cm) is well outlined and projecting; on it rests the abacus, of which the moldings are preserved (cavetto 6.5 cm and plain ovolo 2 cm), but not the corners.

Even though our exemplar retains many typical features, it shows the leaves indented with a series of almost vertical lines and flattened over the surface of the kalathos; the cauliculi gently bent, with a pair of vertical grooves and the rim cut with deep Y-shaped incisions; and, also, the absence of the stem with its leaves supporting the abacus rosette. All this considered, this Corinthian capital can thus be dated to the beginning of the III century AD.