ACANTHUS HOME RENAISSANCE

People often ask "What does acanthus mean?"

A-CAN-THUS is a family of mediterranean plants having symmetrically lobed leaves with spiny edges growing from it's base and showy spikes of white or purplish flowers. Also called bear's breech. It's leaves have been used for for ages as architectural ornaments. The ancient Greek writer Vitruvius tells us that an architect named Callimachus happened across a basket lifted in the leaves of the acanthus plant. Callimachus, inspired, created a new order of architecture and named it after the region, Corinth. Corinthian columns can still be seen on many classically styled buildings.
After the conquest of Alexander the Great the use of the acanthus spread to eastern art. Acanthus leaves have been used to decorate medieval illustrated manuscripts, Greek revival buildings, turn of the century tapestries and wall paper, and art deco ornaments.

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