epetitions of the
same design. One of the most remarkable is the capital in which the
leaves are carved as if blown by the wind; the finest example being in
Sta Sophia, Thessalonica; those in St Mark's, Venice (fig. 8) specially
attracted Ruskin's fancy. Others are found in St Apollinare-in-classe,
Ravenna. The Thistle and Pine capital is found in St Mark's, Venice; St
Luke's, Delphi; the mosques of Kairawan and of Ibn Tulun, Cairo, in the
two latter cases being taken from Byzantine churches. The illustration
of the capital in S. Vitale, Ravenna (figs. 9 and 10) shows above it the
dosseret required to carry the arch, the springing of which was much
wider than the abacus of the capital.

[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Gothic Capitals from Wells Cathedral.]

The Romanesque and Gothic capitals throughout Europe present the same
variety as in the Byzantine and for the same reason, that the artist
evolved his conception of the design from the block he was carving, but
in these styles it goes further on account of the clustering of columns
and piers.

The earliest type of capital in Lombardy and Germany is that which is
known as the cushion-cap, in which the lower portion of the cube block
has been cut away to meet the circular shaft (fig. 11). These early
types were generally painted at first with various geometrical designs,
afterwards carved.

In Byzantine capitals, the eagle, the lion and the lamb are occasionally
carved, but treated conventionally.

[Illustration: FIG 14.--Gothic Capitals from Amiens Cathedral.]

In the Romanesque and Gothic styles, in addition to birds and beasts,
figures are frequently introduced into capitals, those in the Lombard
work being rudely carved and verging on the grotesque; later, the
sculpture reaches a higher standard; in the cloisters of Monreale (fig.
12) the birds being wonderfully true to nature. In England and France
(figs. 13 and 14), the figures introduced into the capitals are
sometimes full of character. These capitals, however, are not equal to
those of the Early English school, in which the foliage is
conventionally treated as if it had been copied from metal work, and is
of infinite variety, being found in small village churches as well as in
cathedrals.

[Illustration: FIG 15.--Italian Renaissance Capital from S. Maria dei
Miracoli, Venice.]

Reference has only been made to the leading examples of the Roman
capitals; in the Renaissance period (fig. 15) the feature became