130 - Fragment of a Corinthian capital. Rome, 3rd century A.D.

Fragment of a Corinthian capital. Rome, 3rd century A.D. Carved marble. Measurements: 32 x 30 x 39 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. Fragment of a Corinthian capital featuring two overlapping rows of carved acanthus leaves flanking a central element. The Corinthian capital belongs to the classical architectural order of the same name, and its creation is attributed in texts to the Greek sculptor Callimachus in the 4th century B.C. In this example, one can see the slight entasis characteristic of Ancient Greece, and one might suspect the presence of those caulicles (volutes or spirals created at the corners and in the center). However, the level of detail in this capital is not the same as in the earlier examples on which it is based. The Roman Empire adopted this order and used it very frequently. The slight stylization evident in the acanthus leaves reflects changes in Roman art that began as early as the 2nd century CE and were aimed at greater stylization due to the search for an art that was “eternal” and oriented toward the afterlife, as advocated by religions such as Christianity. Compare, for example, the colossal sculpture of Emperor Constantine I the Great (280–337 AD), originally located in the Basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum. It is these types of examples, already in an advanced stage of development, that would eventually give rise, after a specific evolutionary process, to the well-known Muslim capitals, which can be seen firsthand in the ruins of North Africa.