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Capital
unknown - Enlarge image
Capital
- Place of origin:
Madinat al-Zahra, Spain (probably, made)
- Date:
ca. 950-975 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Carved marble
- Credit Line:
Given by Dr W. L. Hildburgh FSA
- Museum number:
A.10-1922
- Gallery location:
Islamic Middle East, room 42, case 1E, shelf EXP
This capital would have formed the head or top part of a column. It comes from the palace complex of Madinat al-Zahra near Córdoba in southern Spain. The complex was founded in 936 by a member of the Umayyad dynasty of Spain.
It shows the powerful influence of the architecture of classical antiquity on early Islamic art. The capital has a ‘composite’ form that is entirely Roman, except for the inscription in Arabic along the top edge.
The form and decoration of column capitals in Islamic Spain soon evolved away from their classical roots. They developed much more recognisably Islamic characteristics including increasingly abstract vegetal motifs.
