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Fragment of Roman architectural carving: the top member of an architrave(?)
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Fragment of Roman architectural carving: the top member of an architrave(?)
Mid-third century or perhaps later
Italian marble
Height: 11cm
Width: 19cm
Width: 19cm
Museum number: S59
Vermeule catalogue number: Vermeule 101
On display: Study
All spaces are in No. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields unless identified as in No. 12, Soane's first house.
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Curatorial note
From top to bottom of this small fragment the worn carving comprises a fillet, ovolo, and astragal - the latter two both enriched with reversed acanthus leaves.
This fragment is probably the top moulding of an architrave block, although only with an exact parallel could we be absolutely positive. Its date is certainly not earlier than the mid-third century and might be later, judging from the carving of the leaves and the form of the little leaf ovolo. The arrangement, creating the effect of folded or broken acanthus at the transition from ovolo to astragal, is a clumsy violation of the normal traditions of Roman enrichment and produces a singularly crowded, illogically unpleasant result.
This fragment is probably the top moulding of an architrave block, although only with an exact parallel could we be absolutely positive. Its date is certainly not earlier than the mid-third century and might be later, judging from the carving of the leaves and the form of the little leaf ovolo. The arrangement, creating the effect of folded or broken acanthus at the transition from ovolo to astragal, is a clumsy violation of the normal traditions of Roman enrichment and produces a singularly crowded, illogically unpleasant result.
Provenance
Unrecorded.
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