Two Late Roman marble capitals from the church of Santa María Magdalena in El Viso de San Juan (Toledo)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/aespa.097.024.720Keywords:
Archaeometry, multidisciplinary study, architectural decoration, 4th-5th century AD, reuseAbstract
We present two unpublished Late Roman capitals made of white marble from Almadén de la Plata (Seville), as demonstrated by the archaeometric analyses carried out (petrography, optical microscopy and cathodoluminescence, XRD, isotopic geochemistry (87Sr/86Sr). The pieces are reused as holy water fonts in the church of Santa María Magdalena in the town of El Viso de San Juan, Toledo. A review of the archival documentation referring to the church itself from the beginning of the 16th century onwards (Temples Repairs and Pastoral Visits), situates the first mention of the holy water fonts in an inventory from the beginning of the 20th century. We propose that originally the capitals were at the nearby Late Roman site of Santa María de Abajo (Carranque, Toledo) where they may have formed part of the architectural decoration of its palatial building, based on parallels documented in this enclave.
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References
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Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Grant numbers UIDB/04683/2020;UIDP/04683/2020






