Cleveland Museum of Art

Fragment of a Capital with Scenes from Mary’s Infancy

The Cathedral of Monopoli

Date

early 1100s

Medium

fine-grained limestone

Culture

South Italy, Apulia, early 12th Century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This sculpture relates stylistically with architrave figures from the facade of Monopoli’s cathedral. It is especially similar to a capital there featuring the prophet Daniel. The figure pouring water on the left probably represents an attendant in the Birth of the Virgin. The remaining figures depict the subject of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple. Their exquisite sculptural character gives this fragment major importance in the study of Romanesque sculpture in Apulia.

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