Offered by Seghers & Pang Fine Arts
Does it get more gothic? Fantastic, funny and spooky: bat looking down upon us, poor mortals.
The shape of the corbel predestines it to receive sculpted decoration on the lower part, which is the most visible part. In the case of the work in question, it is a bat. The representation of the animal, with its round ears and half-open snout, is rather close to nature. Dimensions: 22x22x19cm (approx: difficult to measure because irregular form). It has suffered from some blows and obviously has wear. One undeep (2mm) circular segment (5cm diameter) on top has been detached and re-attached.
According to Waldemar Deonna ("Une clé de voûte de l'église de la Madeleine à Genève : la chauve-souris et le lierre", in Revue Suisse d'art et d'archéologie, vol. 13, 1952, pp. 24-32), in the medieval period, the animal embodied "the spirit of evil, pagan idols, demons [...]. It is the emblem of those who do not know how to rise above material and earthly concerns and see the luminous truths of faith, the emblem of wilful ignorance and spiritual blindness".
As for the origin of this sculpture, it is rather difficult to establish, as representations of bats were common throughout the medieval period. For example, a representation of the animal can be found around the choir of Notre-Dame de Paris (cf. Deonna, op. cit. supra). Analysis of this white limestone with yellow shades shows that it may have come from old quarries in the Bordeaux region.
The structure of this architectural element is reminiscent of a corbel, but it is actually a cul-de-lampe, as defined by Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc in his Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française: "The name cul-de-lampe has been given to any corbelled support that is not a corbel, i.e. that does not have two parallel faces perpendicular to the wall". This architectural element is used to support the start of a vault or an engaged column that serves as structural reinforcement for a building.
Provenance: Galerie Charles Ratton & Guy Ladrière (11 Quai Voltaire, 75007 Paris)
Exhibited: Fine Arts la Biennale (FAB) Paris, Grand Palais Éphémère, 22-26 November 2023 (Galerie Charles Ratton & Guy Ladrière, Stand C28)
This sculpture is accompanied by its export license "Certificat d'Exportation pour un Bien Culturel" n°238397 from the French Ministry of Culture.
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