This is a fragment of an original 1820s Carrara marble capital from the Rotunda. The capitals were carved in Italy and shipped to Virginia (can you imagine), where they were then lifted to the tops of the columns. Fragments of the capitals survived the 1895 fire. Those columns that didn’t come crashing to the ground during the fire were pushed over later. It was determined that the high heat had altered the stone sufficiently that it was not salvageable. We have probably 50 fragments, but this one is one of the most complete elements from those capitals. There are many stories of people carrying away fragments from the rubble once the fire died down. It was displayed in the A-school for many years, and only recently removed (with other misc. fragments) to make more room for studio reviews, etc.. - Mark Kutney, head conservator, University of Virginia; data collection:Creaform GoScan Spark structured light scanner; processed:Geomagic 2023; data informatics by Matthew Schneider, UVA Architecture, 230925
CC AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
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