Corinthian column capital

Corinthian column capital with kalathos (h. with rim 31 cm) enveloped by two crowns of acanthus leaves (h. of first crown 11 cm; of second crown 18 cm), which have the midrib slightly enlarged at the top, flanked by two deep grooves and incised with a third, central groove; at either side of the midrib are grouped the lobes’ points that have a rounded tip and, though reduced to three in the intermediate lobes, are still well outlined by thin incised lines; where they touch or overlap each other, they form drop-like and triangular voids. The lobes are still worked with plasticism and are delicately creased, thus granting volume to the whole leaf which is consequently not flattened over the kalathos. The grooves of the second crown stop just after the summit of the leaves of the first crown.

The cauliculi have an almost vertical arrangement and are carved with a single, central fluting; their rim shows a deep Y-shaped incision suggesting, in a simplified manner, the division of the sepals. From the calyxes of acanthus leaves spring the shortened helices, formed by a flat strip ending in a small coil. The abacus rosette’s stem and its leaf are missing. Only one rosette is partially preserved, and is characterized by a thick central button surrounded by radially arranged petals.

Although our exemplar retains some features that would chronologically set it in the III century, such as the simplified rendering of the foliage, its being devoid of both the stem and its leaf supporting the abacus rosette, typical elements of the Corinthian capital, and the deep Y-shaped incision on the cauliculus rim, one must nevertheless take into account the plasticism and the stylistic handling of the foliage, which are proper to the end of the II century.