Object details
Object number
S10n7
Creator(s)
French
Title
Gargoyle
Date
13th century
Medium
Stone
Dimensions
26.7 x 72.4 cm (10 1/2 x 28 1/2 in.)
Provenance
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the art and antiques gallery Bacri Frères, Paris for 300 francs by 24 July 1906.
Commentary
Gargoyles, like this one, were commonly used in Gothic architecture as decorative spouts designed to carry water away from buildings. Isabella installed this human figure gargoyle in the wall of the North Cloister, away from any rain.
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 62. (as of the French Gothic period)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 173, no. 225. (as French, 13th century)
Gallery
East, North, And West Cloister
Rights and reproductions
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