Capital from the palace-city of Medinat al-Zahara with stylized acanthus leaves, vine rinceau and fleurons / Artist Unknown, Cordova, Spain
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1979/2.1
- Title
- Capital from the palace-city of Medinat al-Zahara with stylized acanthus leaves, vine rinceau and fleurons
- Artist Nationality
- Spanish
- Medium and Support
- marble
- Object Creation Date
- 936-1010
- Object Creation Place
- Europe (continent)
- Spain (nation)
- Andalusia (historical region)
- Cordova
- Creation Place 1
- Europe (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Spain (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Andalusia (historical region)
- Creation Place 4
- Cordova
- Credit Line
- Transfer from the College of Architecture
- Style/Group/Movement
- Islamic
- Period
- Spain, Umayyad (711-1031)
- Dimensions
- 32 cm x 43 cm x 42 cm (12 5/8 in. x 16 15/16 in. x 16 9/16 in.)
- Century
- 10th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Sculpture
- Primary Object Type
- relief
- Secondary Object Classification
- Decorative Arts
- Secondary Object Type
- architectural element
- Physical Description
- This capital, based upon the Roman composite order, features stylized acanthus leaves and rinceau on the bell of the capital, which terminates in a band of bead-and-reel motif on the astragal. This, in turn, is capped by an echinus decorated with three fleurons and vine rinceau on each face as well as four projecting volutes also decorated with rinceau and fleurons. Originally the bell of the capital had two tiers of acanthus leaves, but the capital has been cropped below the top of the first tier and the tips of the leaves, which once curved outward from the surface of the capital, have been sheared off.
- Subject Matter
- This capital comes from Medinat al-Zahra, the vast palace-city begun in 936 CE near Cordova by ‘Abd al-Rahman II, the Islamic Umayyad ruler of Spain, where it probably adorned the sumptuous audience hall known as the Salon Rico. The majestic scale and splendor of the palace accommodated the needs and sophisticated protocols of the court, and boldly strengthened Umayyad claims to the status of caliph, or supreme civil and religious ruler of the Islamicate world. In this setting the elegant vegetal decoration of the capital both reflected the lush paradisiacal garden in which the Salon Rico was situated and reverberated with echoes of authority emanating from the Roman and Byzantine models from which the form of the capital derived, thereby contributing to the majesty of the Umayyad caliph.
- Primary Keywords
- andalusia (historical region)
- capitals
- islam
- palaces
- rinceaux
- scrolling foliage
- spain (nation)
- Secondary Keywords
- architectural elements
- associated concepts
- buildings and the land
- capitals and capital components
- column components
- columns and column components
- components
- components and systems
- components by specific context
- descriptors
- design elements
- dwellings
- europe (continent)
- geographic and political locations
- houses
- houses by occupants
- official residences
- patterns (design elements)
- patterns by specific type
- people and culture
- religions
- religions and religious concepts
- residential structures
- scrollwork
- single built works
- single built works by function
- single built works by specific type
- structural elements
- structural elements and structural element components
- supporting and resisting elements
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1129 x 907
- File Size
- 95 KB
- Record
- 1979/2.1
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1979-sl-2.1/1979_2.1.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1979-SL-2.1:1979_2.1.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
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"Capital from the palace-city of Medinat al-Zahara with stylized acanthus leaves, vine rinceau and fleurons; Artist Unknown, Cordova, Spain." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1979-sl-2.1/1979_2.1.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 10, 2024.
