Romanesque capital, Occitania 12th century.

Limestone capital carved on all sides. The basket is carved in high relief and features monsters, lions, birds, and a bat. The abacus is carved with a scroll and foliage motif known in Languedoc and Occitania during the Romanesque period. The Cleveland Museum of Art collections hold a slightly later capital (Inv. 1916.1983) with an abacus showing a very similar design, as do the abaci of the Romanesque capitals (Inv. 83 12 3 & Inv. 59 7 3) in the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse, dated to the 12th century. Moreover, the basket’s decoration recalls a capital very close to one in the ambulatory of the cloister of Moissac, allowing us to place this sculpture in Occitania in the second half of the 12th century.