A Devil of Notre Dame. 1929. Etching. Fletcher 222.ii. 8 x 5 1/2 (sheet 13 x 9). Gargoyle Series #13. Edition 255. Illustrated as a frontispiece for Churches of France by Dorothy Noyes Arms. 'Number 12 of the Gargoyle Series. Printed by Peter Platt at New York on cream-colored wove paper. A fine, well-inked impression. Signed in pencil. $1,950.
The gargoyle was created under the supervision of the architect Eugéne Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc during a major renovation. This creature is actually a chimèra as it doesn't function as a water spout. It is perched above a horizontal gargoyle on the balustrade of the cathedral's Galerie des Chimères, a balcony that connects the two bell towers. The Chimères are grotesque, frightening, and fanciful statues that were thought to ward off evil spirits.
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