Corbel, crouching man. Northern Italian ca. 1140-1150.

A marble lintel in the form of a bearded long-haired figure in a crouching pose. The figures legs are drawn up beneath him . The ears, mouth, eyes and nose are drilled, and the eyes have been filled with lead (original). Above the figure's left arm is an inscription. Much weathered on the face, the figure has lost much of his mouth and nose.

Given by Dr W. L. Hildburgh

Because of the inscription above the left arm of the figure, it is possible to reconstruct its original position as a lintel support on the right side of a doorway. Lintel supports of this kind , known as telamoni, were locally popular in Emilia in Italy from about 1120 onwards and may be seen at Piacenza, Castellarquato and Cadeo . The present example is closest to the figures at Cadeo, which are dated by Francovich to 1165-1170. Francovich's dating of this group has been disputed, principally by Quintavalle, who considered the sculptures to date from the first half of the century. The present telamone can hardly date before 1140, its style being closer to the art of Niccolo that of Wiligelmo. The inscription affords an interesting illustration of early Italian vernacular, and presumably refers to the weight of the lintel which the telamone is carrying.

Northern Italy

This lintel support would once have held up the horizontal piece of stone placed over a door to discharge the downward pressure from the building above. Because the figure has an inscription above his left arm it is clear that he was positioned on the right side of the doorway, so that the inscription faced outwards and could be read by those entering the building. The latin inscription O.CAM.GRA(NDE) has been translated as Oh What Great Weight, a comical touch in which the figure complains about his role in supporting a portion of the building.

A.162-1920