109 - Romanesque capital; 12th century.

Romanesque capital; 12th century. Carved stone. Measurements: 23 x 25 x 25 cm. Provenance: Estate of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Artistic and heritage collection originating in the legacy of Catalan painters Ramon Martí Alsina (1826–1894), a seminal figure of 19th-century Catalan Realism, and his son Ricard Martí Aguiló (1857–1935). Passed down and enriched across successive generations, the collection brings together works from the original holdings of both artists alongside acquisitions made by their descendants. Dedicated to preserving and recovering the family legacy, the descendants actively reacquired works by the painters as they entered the market, progressively expanding the collection to encompass paintings, sculptures, archaeological artifacts, and other items of artistic and historical significance. Romanesque capital carved from stone, with an inverted truncated cone shape, featuring a distinct collar at the base and a square-shaped upper capital. It features plant-based ornamentation inspired by palm leaves, rendered through schematic carving and a marked simplification of forms, which reduces the natural motifs to geometric elements of an ornamental nature. The composition reflects the stylistic language of 12th-century Romanesque architectural sculpture, in which the decoration is adapted to the structure and volume of the architectural element. The stylization of the plant motifs and the restraint of their formal treatment reveal a synthetic ornamental approach, characteristic of certain medieval workshops in which compositional clarity takes precedence over naturalism.