LOT 0377

Medieval Stone Column Capital with Lion and Human Face

SPAIN OR SOUTHERN FRANCE, LATE 12TH CENTURY A.D.

13 1/4 in. (30 kg, 33.5 cm).

Carved in the half-round with a frieze composed of interlaced foliage with two rows of acanthus leaves and foliage scrolls, framing a lion's head on one side and a human head on the other, remains of lion's mane to the third; drilled holes to the raised surfaces and sockets for the insertion of decorative stones. [No Reserve]

Acquired from Antoine Boccador-Lieveaux, 2005.
Ex central London gallery.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11739-202053.

Cf. D’Emilio, J., ’The Royal Convent of Las Huelgas: Dynastic Politics, Religious Reform and Artistic Change in Medieval Castile’ in Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture 6, Kalamazoo, 2005, pp.191-282, figs.11,13,15 (window Capital of Saint Andres de Arroyo, apse and South Chapel), 34 (Noyon cathedral), 36 (Laon cathedral); Igarashi-Takeshita, M., ‘Les lions dans la sculpture romane en Poitou’ in Cahiers de civilisation médiévale, 23e année (n°89), Janvier-mars 1980, pp.37-54.

The iconography of this capital is probably associated with the biblical story of Daniel in the lion's den. Capitals like this were part of an extensive decorative program which characterised Spanish and the French churches especially in the late 12th century A.D., with the advent of the Cistercian style. Foliate capitals ornamented the churches of Las Claustrillas, Aguilar, Gama, and other Christian sites of Southern France and Northern Spain. Capitals decorated with similar acanthus foliage can be found in churches in Burgundy, for instance at Avallon, Vezelay, and Donzy-le-Pré. However, figurative elements of the old Romanesque art also persisted.