Romanesque capital. Occitania 12th century.

Limestone capital carved on all sides. The basket is carved in high relief and features monsters, lions, birds, and a bat. The abacus is carved with a scroll and foliage motif known in Languedoc and Occitania during the Romanesque period. The Cleveland Museum of Art collections hold a slightly later capital (Inv. 1916.1983) with an abacus showing a very similar design, as do the abaci of the Romanesque capitals (Inv. 83 12 3 & Inv. 59 7 3) in the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse, dated to the 12th century. Moreover, the basket’s decoration recalls a capital very close to one in the ambulatory of the cloister of Moissac, allowing us to place this sculpture in Occitania in the second half of the 12th century.

Iconographic references will be provided to the purchaser.
References consulted:
· Musée des Augustins. Sculpture médiévale, Jacques Gasc, Éditions du Musée des Augustins/RMN, 1992.
· Exhibition catalogue, The Capitals of the Cloister of Moissac, Musée de Moissac, 2009.
· Moissac: Its Abbey Church and Its Romanesque Cloister, Marcel Durliat, 1957