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

Capital for a pilaster in weathered, grainy, open-textured, cream coloured, limestone. Carved with two volutes and acanthus leaves.

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

The lowest part of the capital is a thick rounded moulding called a torus, which shows that the capital was intended to sit on top of a pilaster (a flat column joined to a wall) of bricks rather than stone. This capital's lowest part should, according to the rules of classical architecture be a part of the pilaster beneath it. This is not the case because it was easier for the stone carver to make this torus moulding in stone than a bricklayer to create an alternative.
The ancient Romans, who invented some of the architectural rules which came to be understood in the Renaissance, sometimes carved capitals like this with a base moulding, and they did so for the same reason as the Renaissance carver. Venice is the one Italian city where brick rather than stone was much in use, and this capital may, for that reason be Venetian.
The three large leaves on this capital are lifelike representations of Acanthus mollis ("soft" acanthus - the other type Acanthus Spinosus is spikey acanthus). It is possible to see how the stone carver has used a drill to hollow out the deep gaps between their ragged, rounded edges. This realistic style of leaf carving, is similar to that popular in Venice and is a characteristic of Codussi's buildings of the later fifteenth century.
The curly scrolls beneath the flat top of the capital are very beautifully made and are a well known test of a carver's skill. These volutes which have the carefully judged balance of coiled springs, add to the eye-catching style of the capital and are similar to the work of Codussi's masons. The uppermost part of the capital has been squarely finished in the Venetian style.

Because the outer surface of the right-hand volute has been carved with a deep slit or cleft, and the other has not , it is probable that the left side of the capital was partially hidden from view in a dark corner of the original building from which it was taken. Because so many Renaissance buildings have survived in Venice, the city is often mistakenly believed to be perfectly preserved, unchanged, whereas a great many of its old buildings have in fact been demolished or extremely modernised, particularly in the nineteenth century, allowing endless opportunities for antique dealers and collectors to buy attractive fragments.

Stone carvers in the Renaissance followed many of the architectural rules established by the Romans. The three large leaves on this late fifteenth century capital represent the plant Acanthus mollis, also known as Roman acanthus. Leaves just like this are found on Roman Corinthian capitals dating from the 2nd century AD.
The curly scrolls beneath the flat top of the capital are very beautifully made and are a well known test of a carver's skill.

1850-1892