2 GOTHIC LEAVE ORNAMENTS
ca. 1450-1500

Nature of things
Architectural foliage ornament stayed in favour after the Roman period as source of inspiration in Romanesque and Gothic design. Roman acanthus motifs were followed and copied, but inspired also to new forms in Romanesque art (ca.1000-1250). In Gothic architecture of the second quarter of the thirteenth century there evolved, as a result of the new interest in the nature of things and empirical studies of nature, a complex world of naturalistic foliage, including the precise imitation of particular kinds of leaves as vine, holly, ivy, thistle and other plants. 

Detailed and lively carved, very dense and naturalistic foliage could cover the archivolts and tympana of the churches and abbeys.

The excellent preservation indicate that these stone ornaments were located in a sheltered position.