Nasrid Capital

A Nasrid capital from the period of Yusuf I, Spain, Granada, c. 1350

31 cm (height); carved, chiselled, and polished ‘cubic’-style marble capital with palmette decoration; with cylindrical lower body, the ‘cubic’ upper body carved with vegetal motifs, thin abacus crowning the capital.

Provenance
Collection of the antiquarian François Antonovich (1934-2023), Rue de Richelieu, Paris, France; as early as 1970

Carved out of a block of marble, this Nasrid capital once functioned as an architectural element in a private home or a palatial residence. The capital is formed of two distinct parts: the cylindrical lower body, which acts as extension of the column shaft that would have once stood below it, and the cubic upper body with volutes and sinuous vegetal forms carved in low relief.

It is one of a group of distinctive capitals made in Spain during the reign of the Nasrid Sultan Yusuf I (r. 1333-1354). The capitals carved during this period are defined by low relief carving of the vegetal forms, the use of geometry in the carving, and a simplification of form.

Nasrid capitals from the first half of the fourteenth century largely survive in collections in Spain. A closely related example in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid is of similar scale and composition to our capital (iinv. 00277). Another capital with very similar decorative forms is now in Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst (inv. inv. I. 5385). Other examples are held in the Museo de la Alhambra in Granada (inv. 003889).

Left: Nasrid capital, Spain, Granada, c. 1300-1350, 28 x 24 cm; marble, Madrid, Museo Lázaro Galdiano, inv. 00277

Architectural ornament from the middle of the fourteenth century helps to date Nasrid capitals of this type. The Madrasa Yusufiyya was commissioned by Sultan Yusuf I in Nasrid Granada and dedicated in the month of Muharram 750 / March-April 1349. The structure contains micro-architectural decoration with stucco capitals that are closely related to the style and form of our capital.

Right: Detail, stucco decoration of the Madrasa Yusufiyya, Spain, Granada, Muharram 750 / March-April 1349