The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 1, 2023

Fragment of a Capital with the Ox of Saint Luke

c. 1175–1200

This object has related works. See Engaged Capital with a Lion and a Basilisk; Engaged Capital with Figures of a Man and of an Eagle

Northern Italy, Emilia (Bologna?), 12th century

Marble

Overall: 24.5 x 25.1 x 11.5 cm (9 5/8 x 9 7/8 x 4 1/2 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1972.22

Location

106B Romanesque & Gothic Sculpture

Description

This fragment and two other capitals (1972.20 and 1972.21) were once parts of the same structure. Though the original structure is unknown, their style suggests that it was located in Bologna. As the fragmentary Latin inscription S: LU suggests, the ox represents the traditional symbol in medieval art of the Evangelist Saint Luke.

Inscriptions

Inscription

above the profile ox: S. LU.

Provenance
Juliana Armour Ferguson, Huntington, Long Island, New York
-1972
(Edward R. Lubin, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1972-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Cahn, Walter, and Linda Seidel. Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1999. vol. II, no. B III 13, 161-63
Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.22