Corbel with Female Figure with Clasped Hands
Notre-Dame-de-la-Grande-Sauve, the church from which these corbels come, was situated on one of the routes to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Set next to a great forest (the silva major from which its name comes) and dominating a hill overlooking the Gironde River, its community grew from seven monks at its founding in 1079 to some 300. The abbey benefited from donations from famous patrons, including a gift from Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Henry II king of England, in 1156.
In the aftermath of the French Revolution, the monastic buildings served as a prison. The church vaults collapsed in 1809, and a fire in 1910 further compromised the site. Still, some related corbels survive on the church exterior.
Artwork Details
- Title: Corbel with Female Figure with Clasped Hands
- Date: ca. 1150–1200
- Geography: Made in Aquitaine, France
- Culture: French
- Medium: Limestone
- Dimensions: 18 1/2 × 13 1/2 × 28 1/2 in. (47 × 34.3 × 72.4 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture-Architectural
- Credit Line: Gift of George Blumenthal, 1934
- Object Number: 34.21.7
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters
Audio
19. Corbel with Female Figure with Clasped Hands
Gallery 3
NARRATOR: A corbel is a bracket projecting out from the face of a wall that is used for support. This one represents a female figure with clasped hands. The corbels here date from the same period as the St.-Guilhem cloister. They once supported the exterior cornice at the Benedictine monastery of Notre-Dame-de-la-Grande-Sauve, in Bordeaux. Now they support the cornice and ribs of the vault over the cloister walks. These corbels were often decorated with representations of fierce beasts. I encourage you to spend some time looking at the other corbels in this room, all of which come from Notre-Dame-de-la-Grande-Sauve. They display a great variety of subjects. Some are humorous or grotesque, and some are bawdy.
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