Author: P. Baronio

Download article as .pdf: Nuove considerazioni sui capitelli compositi con foglie d’acanto ‘a farfalla’

 

Aim of the paper is to analyze a particular type of acanthus capital with windblown leaves, known as ‘butterfly-winged’, in architectural sculpture of the Early Byzantine period. The goal is to delineate, as far as possible, the dynamics of production and spread of composite capitals with butterfly acanthus. This is a rare type, known mainly from examples in Ravenna and Istanbul datable between the late 5th and the first half of the 6th century. Through the re-examination of the Ravenna material, it has been possible to identify numer-ous unpublished architectural elements obtained by reworking butterfly-acanthus capitals and to consider the important role played by patrons and workshops in their production.