Severan Forum Basilica

Severan Forum Basilica

3rd century

1265

Libya

visual works

Libya (nation)

Labdah (deserted settlement)

Imperial (Roman)

pilasters

reliefs (sculptures)

Corinthian capitals

Detail view of pilaster relief topped by Corinthian capital at Labdah in Lybia. "The colonnades end on the short walls with elaborately carved pilasters. Equally the apses are framed by the same kind of pilasters forming a decorative link between the colonnades and the apses. Sculpture and iconography of these pilasters are remarkable and clearly inspired by eastern examples. The pilasters framing the apses are carved on three sides with srolls issuing from chilices; vine and acanthus leaves cover the scrolls, which interlock to form a series of roundels inhabited by animals and human figures. The motif of the fore-parts of an animal issuing from an acanthus whorl had long been part of the repertory of Roman decorative art, deriving from hellenistic sources; here, scenes from the labours of Hercules and figures from the entourage of Bacchus on the pilasters on the south wall similarly emerge from whorls of foliage,"--Vitruvius website.

marble (rock)

jpeg

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