Capital, Istrian stone, acanthus, volutes, Italian, late 15th- ealy 16th century.

Pilaster capital carved in cream limestone. Three sides of the capital are decorated with acanthus leaves, their tops curling forward. On the front face, two stems emerge from the acanthus leaves to curl over two rosettes. The abacus carries egg and dart ornament above a row of bead and reel; two of the corners are finished with scrolling volutes bearing a leaf design. The back of the capital is roughly finished.

Acquired from the Cavendish Bentinck Collection of Italian marbles once at Brownsea castle, Brownsea Island.

This capital was carved at a time when it was unacceptable for a competent architect to permit incidents of design which deviated from an accepted norm. The norm was arrived at by the selective use of antique remains, by influential people. All over Italy, imitation of the Ancient Roman orders was a sine qua non. At least theoretically therefore 1851 and 1852-1892 could have been carved anywhere since architects and gentlemen would have had no reason to take exception to them. Since, howeevr the are made of Istrian stone and were probably acquired from the Venetian dealer tadesco, it is not impossible that in turn, Tadesco acquired them in Venice itself from oneof its many freshly demolished and heavily restored buildings.
Although of squatter proportions, this pair of capitals bears a marked resemblance to capitals from the Arch of Caracalla at Ostia. Parts of a capital from which were only brought to light at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.Other capitals from the same monument may have been known in the Renaissance only to be lost (as was the case with many important antiquities) or virtually identical capitals from other works of Caracalla's imperium.

Stimulated by their contact with the ancient Roman architecture all around them, 15th-century Italian architects experimented endlessly with the design of capitals. This example incorporates a representation of a vase – a type of object that, like the capital, dated back to the Roman Empire.

1852-1892