Grotesques from the Italian Renaissance influenced mainly by Leonardo Da Vinci “Broken noses, sunken faces, decaying bodies ... Leonardo da Vinci's pursuit of beauty led him to seek out the grotesque and gruesome.” This lead a lot of Artists to see the beauty in the ugly and make people see beneath all that’s shown and voice in hidden demons in their art, that can’t be seen, yet in plain sight.
A gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building. On the other hand, sculptures which don't work as waterspouts and serve only as an ornamental function are called chimeras, or a grotesque figure, which were made to ward off evil spirits and scare demons away. The term gargoyle originates from the French gargouille, originally "throat" which represented the gurgling sound of water ‘gargoyle’; but also The French legend of La Gargouille: “A fearsome dragon that terrorized the inhabitants of the town of Rouen. For centuries…The dragon swallowed up ships and flooded the town, until [A Priest] Romanus came along and agreed to vanquish the beast in exchange for the townspeople's conversion to Christianity. Romanus tamed the dragon by making the sign of the cross, then led it into town where it was burned at the stake. The creature’s head, however, wouldn’t burn, so the townspeople cut it off and affixed it to their church.” The gargouille’s head became a ward against evil and a warning to other dragons.
There is also the obvious, well known story of the ‘Hunch back of Notre Dame’ Quasimodo, the mutilated and deformed bell ringer born with “a severe hunchback, and a giant wart that covers his left eye” is a perfect example of a grotesque he is also described as "hideous" and a "creation of the devil" - linking Quasimodo to religion and the painting through the saints and angles and demons and devils. Victor Hugo Wrote 'Hunchback of Notre-Dame' to Save the Great Cathedral. “Gothic architecture was fatiguing in that it asked a lot even of your eyeballs. You couldn’t just set your gaze on a Gothic structure and know what it was all about. Your eyes had to travel, they had to work; you might say that your eyes had to think”.
Van der Goes' most famous surviving work is the Portinari Triptych/ The Portinari alter piece. In spite of all differences of taste and style, “Flemish painting was prized by Italian businessmen and collectors.” Hugo van der Goes was one of the greatest late 15th-century Flemish artists. The side panels depict the male (left wing) and female (right wing) members of the Portinari donor family, who commissioned and donated the altarpiece to be hung in the church of the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova .The right wing also includes a scene of the annunciation to the Magi. On the right-hand panel, Tomaso’s wife Maria Magdalena Baron celli Portinari and their daughter Margherita can be seen praying with St Margaret and St Mary Magdalene. But there is also a disturbing creature lurking in-between the young girls, hidden in plain sight, yet it’s not noticed at first glance… this is what we’re going to focus on; this sinister grotesque creature in this nativity scene of Christ. Not much is said about the right wing specifically, the main focus of the Portinari alter piece is usually the centre panel of the paining as a whole.
In Portinari triptych there is this grotesque creature which seems to resembles a Calot. “A Calot is a Martian creature that is the world's rough equivalent of a dog, but typically only amongst the Green Men [aliens]”. “These creatures are about the size of a Shetland pony, with ten short legs and a frog-like head, and a small amount of bristly "hair". They are the fastest creatures on Mars, and are excellent at hunting game or guarding property”. It a bit odd that a painting from 1475 contains a creature that is mythical, alien, and most likely unreal and unheard off before; even the concept of life forms outside of this world is taboo for this time. However, the trait that the Calot is good at guarding property is rational as it looks to be protecting St Margaret and St Mary Magdalene. This also links the grotesque Calot to gargoyles as gargoyles were made to protect and ward off the evil spirits. Both the Calot and Gargoyles are ‘supposedly’ mythical creatures – both are grotesquely ugly and resemble parts of other creatures.
Another link between Notre Dame and the Portinari alter piece is how in the story of ‘the Hunchbacked of Notre Dame’ Esmerelda (Quasimodo’s love/friend) imitates Mary Magdalene’s (who incidentally is depicted in the Portinari triptych) gesture to Christ during his torture and crucifixion. Her reaction to Quasimodo’s cry “A boire, A boire, A boire!” releases Quasimodo’s soul.
One of the main differences between the Portinari alter piece and the gargoyles on the 856-year-old cathedral Notre Dame, is the materials. The Portinari Triptych is an oil painting on wood and the gargoyles are sculpted from stone and also (some) have a purpose of water spouts removing water build up on the cathedral. Most gargoyles are depicted as fearsome winged creatures, whereas the Calot is depicted as a frog faced dog which is strangely and eerily cute.
Gargoyles conjure images of “hideous, brooding creatures” perched high above the cities and villages of the world. The most terrifying ones look as though they might break from their stone moorings and take flight. And the Creature in the Portinari Triptych right wing, is horrifying as if it’s hiding the demons of the saints, of perhaps guarding the saints from demons by scaring and chasing them off.
Both gargoyles and the depicted Calot are in dull murky colours portraying eerie sinister silhouettes and the mutilated features on the faces make them very intimidating. The Notre Dame gargoyles have very sharp strike lines showing movement and the speed they could gain if they were to come to life. The grotesque creature in the painting is rather rounded and suggesting a less intimidating figure, however the unusual features are what makes the creature scary.
Both are hidden in plain sight and you can see them when you look for them, however, when you take a quick glance you don’t spot them straight away; Notre Dame Cathedral, is a beautiful monument smothered in these grotesque creatures. In the Portinari Triptych painting it’s just a small insignificant blob in-between the female saints. But it’s not insignificant. Neither are insignificant because even though you don’t see them straight away, they still give a psychological reaction of sinister warning, doing what they were created to do: Protect and guard the Saints/Cathedral.
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