Cleveland Museum of Art

Engaged Capital with Windblown Acanthus

Date

400s

Medium

limestone

Culture

Byzantium, Northern Syria, Byzantine period, 5th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

These capitals - the Capital with Acanthus and Crosses and the Engaged Capital with Windblown Acanthus - may have been found in Northern Syria and presumably come from a large and important church. Both capitals are decorated with leaves of acanthus, a fleshy plant with jagged leaves native to the Mediterranean area. One capital is symmetrical with crosses in its ornament, the other is asymmetrical and gives the impression of windblown leaves.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.