Marble pilaster capital

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The capital was once set against a wall, crowning a rectangular semi-detached pilaster. In Roman architecture three major orders of capitals were used—Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. This pilaster capital is a fine example of the most elaborate, the Corinthian order. Three acanthus leaves rise from the base and two flowers on delicately carved stems curl upward between them. A classical molding with stylized lotus flowers over a band of bead and reel separates the lower part of the capital from the two volutes around which a leafy vine entwines. At the top, a single flower decorates the center of the straight abacus.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art