772 - Romanesque double column with a double capital decorated with masks

Romanesque double column with a double capital decorated with masks France 12th/13th century Limestone Height 215 cm, width 56 cm, depth 37 cm Architectural sculpture played a central role in French Romanesque art. On church portals, capitals, and in cloisters, architectural functions were combined with figurative and ornamental iconography. Alongside biblical scenes, animals, fantastical creatures, and human heads appear in a variety of combinations with plant motifs. Characteristic features include the adaptation of the motifs to the given stone form, their pronounced stylization, and the interplay between two-dimensional ornamentation and three-dimensionally protruding figures. This architectural element consists of two simple, cylindrical column shafts resting on a shared base structured by beads and angular transitions. Above this rises a double capital with a continuous capstone. A band of flat, five-petaled floral rosettes forms the upper border. Below this, front-facing mask heads with striking facial features and partially open mouths stand out. Some have long, large ears, while others emerge from curving foliage. Large, stylized leaves encircle the two capital bodies and serve as a transition between the narrow shafts and the broader top. In addition to their ornamental effect, the grotesque mask heads may have carried various meanings. For this particular piece, a morally admonishing meaning can be considered. An apotropaic-that is, evil-warding-function also remains conceivable. French double capitals in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Met Cloisters offer typological and motivic points of comparison. The “Double Capital with Masks and Birds” from the Languedoc (Inv. No. 28.81), dated to around 1140-1160, combines protruding heads with a vegetal capital structure. The “Double Capital with Birds” from Saint-Gaudens in Gascony (Inv. No. 49.56.9), dated to the 12th/13th century, illustrates the use of such capitals atop pairs of column shafts in a cloister. These examples place the present piece within a comparable French stylistic context.