The Grotesque in Church ArtWildridge, T. Tindall (Thomas Tindall)
History
The Grotesque in Church Art
Wildridge, T. Tindall (Thomas Tindall)
Christian art and symbolism; Church decoration and ornament; Grotesque
An excellent conception, well carried out, is in a mask which is one of a
series of late carvings alternating with the gargoyles of Ewelme. In this,
instead of leaves issuing from the mouth of the mask, there are two
dragons. If those with leaves are deities, this surely must be one of the
Furies. It is on the north side of the nave; on the exterior of the
aisle, at the same side, other sculptures form a kind of irregular
corbel-table, and special attention may be drawn to them as affording an
indication of the derivation of such ornaments from the "antefixes" or
decorated tiles occupying a nearly corresponding position in classic
architecture.
[Illustration: FOLIATE MASK, EWELME.]
One of those on the aisle offers a further explanation of the mark before
mentioned as being on the foreheads of some masks. In this case the
prominences of the eyebrows branch off into foliage. This appears also to
be the intention in a capital carving in Lincoln Chapter House.
Roslyn Chapel has some very realistic heads, notably of apes or gorillas
near the south doorway, of which one is drawn (opposite).
[Illustration: FOLIATE MASK, LINCOLN.]
Norman work has frequently some very grotesque heads in corbel tables and
tower corners, to the odd appearance of which the decay by weather has no
doubt much contributed. Two examples from Sutton Courtney, Oxfordshire,
illustrate this weather-worn whimsicality.
[Illustration: GORILLA, ROSLYN CHAPEL.]
Then comes a crowd of faces which have no particular significance, being
simply the outcome of the unrestrainable fun of the carver. Some are
merely oddities, while others are full of life-like character.
[Illustration: GARGOYLE, SUTTON COURTNEY.]
[Illustration: WEATHER-WORN NORMAN, SUTTON COURTNEY, BERKSHIRE.]
[Illustration: HUMOUR, YORK.]
[Illustration: MASK WITH SAUSAGE, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON.]
[Illustration: A JEALOUS EYE, YORK.]
The knight with the twisted beard, from Swine, may be a portrait, and the
Gargantuan-faced dominus from St. Mary's Minster certainly is. An old
barbarian head from a croche or elbow-rest at Bakewell is rude and worn,
but yet bold and fine.
[Illustration: A BEARD WITH A TWIST, SWINE, YORKSHIRE.]
[Illustration: A QUIZZICAL VISAGE, BAKEWELL.]
[Illustration: GRIMACE MAKER, BEVERLEY MINSTER.]
[Illustration: FOOL'S HEADS, BEVERLEY MINSTER.]
Some of these are better than the joculators and mimes' faces in which the
artist seriously set himself a humorous task, as in the three heads
(page 130) from Beverley Minster, though the latter are in some respects
more grotesque.
[Illustration: A PORTRAIT, ST. MARY'S MINSTER. ISLE OF THANET.]
[Illustration: A ROUGH CHARACTER, BAKEWELL.]
Another curious instance of a grimace and posture maker, assisting his
countenance's contortions by the use of his fingers, is at Dorchester
Abbey. In this the artist has not been master of the facial anatomy, and
shows a double pair of lips, one pair in repose, the other pulled back at
the corners.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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