The acanthus (
Ancient Greek: ἄκανθος) is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration in the architectural tradition emanating from Greece and Rome.[1]
Architecture
In architecture, an
ornament may be carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the Acanthusgenus of plants, which have deeply cut leaves with some similarity to those of the
thistle and
poppy. Both Acanthus mollis and the still more deeply cut Acanthus spinosus have been claimed as the main model, and particular examples of the motif may be closer in form to one or the other species; the leaves of both are, in any case, rather variable in form. The motif is found in decoration in nearly every medium.
The relationship between acanthus ornament and the acanthus plant has been the subject of a long-standing controversy.
Alois Riegl argued in his Stilfragen that acanthus ornament originated as a sculptural version of the
palmette, and only later began to resemble Acanthus spinosus.[2]
Greek and Roman
In ancient Roman and
ancient Greek architecture acanthus ornament appears extensively in the
capitals of the
Corinthian and
Composite orders, and applied to
friezes,
dentils and other decorated areas. The oldest known example of a Corinthian column is in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at
Bassae in Arcadia, c. 450–420 BC, but the order was used sparingly in Greece before the
Roman period. The Romans elaborated the order with the ends of the leaves curled, and it was their favourite order for grand buildings, with their own invention of the Composite, which was first seen in the epoch of
Augustus.[3] Acanthus decoration continued in popularity in
Byzantine,
Romanesque, and
Gothic architecture. It saw a major revival in the Renaissance, and still is used today.
The Roman writer
Vitruvius (c. 75 – c. 15 BC) related that the Corinthian order had been invented by
Callimachus, a Greek architect and sculptor who was inspired by the sight of a votive basket that had been left on the grave of a young girl. A few of her toys were in it, and a square tile had been placed over the basket, to protect them from the weather. An
acanthus plant had grown through the woven basket, mixing its spiny, deeply cut leaves with the weave of the basket.
Byzantine
Some of the most detailed and elaborate acanthus decoration occurs in important buildings of the
Byzantine architectural tradition, where the leaves are undercut, drilled, and spread over a wide surface. Use of the motif continued in
Medieval art, particularly in sculpture and wood carving and in friezes, although usually it is stylized and generalized, so that one doubts that the artists connected it with any plant in particular. After centuries without decorated capitals, they were revived enthusiastically in
Romanesque architecture, often using foliage designs, including acanthus. Curling acanthus-type leaves occur frequently in the borders and ornamented initial letters of
illuminated manuscripts, and are commonly found in combination with palmettes in woven
silktextiles. In the
Renaissance classical models were followed closely, and the acanthus becomes recognisable again in large-scale architectural examples. The term is often also found describing more stylized and abstracted foliage motifs, where the similarity to the species is weak.
Byzantine acanthuses on the
cornice at the top of the Pilastri Acritani (Pillars of Acre), originally in the
Church of St. Polyeuctus, later taken and now displayed in the Piazzetta di San Marco,
Venice, unknown architect or sculptor, 524-527[6]
Brâncovenesc acanthuses of a railing of the
Horezu Monastery,
Horezu, Romania, unknown architect or sculptor, 17th-18th centuries[10]
Baroque acanthuses on a commode, by
André-Charles Boulle,
c.1710–1720, walnut veneered with ebony, marquetry of engraved brass and tortoiseshell, and gilt-bronze mounts, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Neoclassical
Medusa mascaron with acanthuses on a handle of the Mayeux Vase, by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, 1878, hard-paste porcelain, gilded copper molding on the collar, and gilded bronze handles,
Louvre
Bresc-Bautier, Geneviève (2008). The Louvre, a Tale of a Palace. Musée du Louvre Éditions.
ISBN978-2-7572-0177-0.
Celac, Mariana; Carabela, Octavian; Marcu-Lapadat, Marius (2017). Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide. Order of Architects of Romania.
ISBN978-973-0-23884-6.
Florea, Vasile (2016). Arta Românească de la Origini până în Prezent (in Romanian). Litera.
ISBN978-606-33-1053-9.
Honour, Hugh; Fleming, John (2009). A World History of Art - Revised Seventh Edition. Laurence King Publishing.
ISBN978-1-85669-584-8.
Riegl, A (1992). Problems of style: foundations for a history of ornament. Translated by Kain, E. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
ISBN978-0-691-65658-8.
Robertson, Hutton (2022). The History of Art - From Prehistory to Presentday - A Global View. Thames & Hudson.
ISBN978-0-500-02236-8.
Watkin, David (2022). A History of Western Architecture. Laurence King.
ISBN978-1-52942-030-2.