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Capital
unknown - Enlarge image
Capital
- Place of origin:
Madinat al-Zahra, Spain (probably, made)
- Date:
ca. 960-980 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Marble, carved
- Credit Line:
Given by Dr W. L. Hildburgh FSA
- Museum number:
A.55-1925
- 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 transition in decorative styles which occurred in Islamic art as the heritage of classical antiquity began to evolve into a more abstract, recognisably Islamic aesthetic. The capital has a shape that is clearly rooted in ancient Roman forms, but the surfaces have been decorated with plant motifs. It resembles capitals made in the Byzantine empire.
