A foliate motif much used in medieval art and derived from the depiction of the acanthus plant in a decorative context during Antiquity. Medieval renditions of the acanthus are generally not as true to the actual plant as those of Antiquity, reducing it to a cipher consisting of stylized fleshy fronds. Acanthus ornament was particularly favoured by the Carolingians, for whom it represented a conscious revival of a Mediterranean form.