Capitals such as this example, were one of the main sites for decorative sculpture in Romanesque churches. The acanthus leaf, vividly depicted on this capital, was a motif derived from ancient Roman art, although here it is handled in a stiffer, linear manner. The artists of Southern France were strongly influenced by surviving Roman remains.

This startingly classical capital from south-eastern France strongly resembles an ancient capital of the Ionic order, with its tightly curled volutes, neatly tucked beneath the the flat top of the capital (abacus). However, this is also a strongly medieval piece of sculptural architecture. The body of the column is not covered with plain ridges, alternating 'fillets and flutes', but instead is covered in intense, deeply cut, stylised acanthus leaves, curling outwards at the top as they press against the underside of the scrolling volutes, giving an impression of a defunct Greek or Roman building overgrown with foliage.

Medieval craftsmen were acutely aware of the skill and ability of Greek and Roman craftsmen and architects - but rather than copy, they learned, studied and assimilated the styles perfected by the Ancient masons, and went onto to scale their own heights of perfection and orginality.