Artwork Page for Gargoyles at Notre Dame

Details / Information for Gargoyles at Notre Dame

Gargoyles at Notre Dame

c. 1935

Pierre Auradon

(French, 1900–1988)
Culture
France
Medium
gelatin silver print
Measurements
Image: 17.1 x 12.1 cm (6 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.); Paper: 17.1 x 12.1 cm (6 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2018.462
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

These stone creatures are not medieval; they were added to the famed Parisian cathedral during an 1844 restoration.

Description

Photography allows us to travel through not just space but also time. We can experience the skyline of Paris in 1935, courtesy of Pierre Auradon. His study of light and shadow, shot on the roof of Notre Dame cathedral, contrasts that massive medieval stone building with the distant, lacy Eiffel Tower, built in 1889. Auradon framed the shot so that the cathedral’s famed chimeras—fanciful hybrid creatures—survey the scene below, ready to swoop down on the city’s inhabitants.
A vertically oriented black-and-white photograph depicts three stone gargoyles perched on a balcony railing. On our left, the first figure leans forward with an open mouth. The central figure faces away, and on our right, the third gargoyle has a beak-like head. From our right, light casts repetitive shadows of the railing's diamond cutouts across the floor. In the distant background, the Eiffel Tower rises above a hazy cityscape.

Gargoyles at Notre Dame

c. 1935

Pierre Auradon

(French, 1900–1988)
France

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