The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Fragment of a Capital with Scenes from Mary’s Infancy

early 1100s

workshop of The Cathedral of Monopoli

(Italian)
South Italy, Apulia, early 12th Century
fine-grained limestone
without base: 26.7 x 33 x 22.9 cm (10 1/2 x 13 x 9 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1955.556
Location: 106B Romanesque & Gothic Sculpture

Description

This sculpture relates stylistically with architrave figures from the facade of Monopoli’s cathedral. It is especially similar to a capital there featuring the prophet Daniel. The figure pouring water on the left probably represents an attendant in the Birth of the Virgin. The remaining figures depict the subject of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple. Their exquisite sculptural character gives this fragment major importance in the study of Romanesque sculpture in Apulia.
  • Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York.
  • Milliken, William. "A Romanesque Capital from Apulia." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 43, no. 10 (December 1956): 218-221. Mentioned: p. 218; Reproduced: p. 219, 220. www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 134 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 48 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 48 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 52 archive.org
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment of a Capital with Scenes from Mary’s Infancy|url=false|author=The Cathedral of Monopoli|year=early 1100s|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1955.556