Fig. 154.—Acanthus: olive leaf variety from a capital of Mars Ultor.
that kind of acanthus that is known as the Acanthus spinosus, or the prickly variety; the Romans preferred the Acanthus mollis, or the soft-leaved kind. The olive-leaf has been used for the raffles of the leaves in the capitals of Jupiter Stator, Mars Ultor, and the Pantheon at Rome (see Figs. [154], [185], and [188]), while at the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli the capitals have the oak-leaved variety. A bit of the soft-leaved acanthus is shown at [Fig. 155] from the soffit of the architrave at the temple of Jupiter
Fig. 155.—Soft-leaved acanthus from the soffit of the architrave at the temple of Jupiter Stator.
Fig. 156.—Acanthus used on candelabra and small pillars.
Stator. The Romans sometimes used the acanthus in a lavish way, overloading mouldings with it; the cornice of the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, for instance, is overdone with decoration. (See [Fig. 186].) The more modern type of acanthus used on majolica