The 3D reconstruction of the Capital of Tróia is a hypothesis for what might have been the look of this Roman composite capital.
This capital – very likely fragmented – was reused as building material in a ladder’s step sometime during Late Antiquity, mid 4th century CE. Lucky for the archeologists, art historians and historians! Whoever did it was carefully enough to leave part of the front ornamentation and format of the upper face at sight. The study of capitals is very important in terms of sculpture and architecture. Since it is impossible to observe this capital physically, we decided to accomplish a typological, metrical and comparative survey that would give us a virtual image of the look of this capital, as accurate as possible.
So, this 3D reconstruction shows our proposal for the face of this capital before it lost its primary function, that is, during the first half of the 3rd century CE, according to our study. Since then, the capital has been part of a step for more than 1700 years.
The 3D reconstruction was made by Sérgio Dias; Filomena Limão presented the study in The Capital of Tróia (Portugal).
For more information:
LIMÃO, Filomena (2019). O capitel de Tróia (Portugal). Da reutilização Antiguidade Tardia à reconstituição no século XXI. Horizontes artísticos da Lusitânia. Dinâmicas da Antiguidade Clássica e Tardia em Portugal. Séculos I a VIII. Amadora, Canto Redondo, p. 264-291.