Romanesque-Promanesque capital, 9th-10th centuries. Carved... Lot 41

Romanesque-Promanesque capital, 9th-10th centuries. Carved stone. Measurements: 28 x 47 x 35 cm. Pre-Romanesque or transitional capital towards the Romanesque period, in carved stone. Its truncated pyramid-shaped body shows the phytomorphic motifs characteristic of the period. The fan-shaped open-ribbed palmettes alternate with a Maltese-style cross and bouquets whose leaves are worked in bas-relief in a synthetic style. The classical acanthus-leaf models have been refined and subjected to slightly geometric patterns, but in which a naturalistic search can already be seen that would culminate in the Gothic period. The capital could have belonged to a monastery cloister. With no differentiated astragalus and crest, the structure forms a single body with the drum. Romanesque art uses classical models, adapting them to its own needs, and deploys a great stylistic variety in terms of capitals. It often follows the Corinthian capital, which is characterised by an abacus, a basket or echinus with scrolls at its angles and decorated with acanthus leaves, and an astragalus - also known improperly as a collarette - in the area of contact with the shaft of the column. From this point onwards, however, the iconographic growth develops freely.