Title

Corbel

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

It is difficult to pinpoint the origin of a piece like this. The Philadelphia Museum is inclined to think that it comes from the Burgos area. It would not be strange, since in the province there are examples of similar capitals in the Church of San Julián and Santa Basilisa, in Rebolledo de la Torre (Burgos) or in the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos (Burgos). However, if we pay attention to the subject, two lions with their heads facing each other showing their jaws, we can extend the area. Thus, the piece is reminiscent of the capitals of the chapel of San Nicolás, in Ayllón (Segovia), the church of San Juan Bautista in Orejana (Segovia), San Miguel de Fuentidueña(Segovia) and the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Duratón (Segovia). This bracket became part of the Philadelphia Museum along with two others. All of them seem to come from the same architectural group, therefore, it was somewhere in the current Castilla y León. However, we do not have more data that allow us to know its origin.

In the first quarter of the 20th century the piece left the country for the United States. It was acquired by siblings Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen and Henry P. Maclhenny, who had a close relationship with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Both decided to donate this corbel in 1946 to the museum in honor of their parents, John D. MClhenny and Frances Galbraith Plumer, benefactors of the institution.

Description

Animals have been present in the medieval world since the earliest times. The use of beasts as decorative elements in architecture responded to multiple factors; it could be symbolic or strictly decorative (Morales, 1996). Undoubtedly, mammals are the most represented, being able to find deer, lambs, camels, donkeys, bulls or lions. Precisely in this piece there are two lions with their heads facing each other. This animal had positive charges, but also negative connotations. It symbolizes sovereignty, the dual nature of Christ: divine and human, as well as justice; but it also alludes to evil and the devil.

Locations

• XIII^th c.

  region

  Possible origin from Castile and Leon, Castilla y León (Spain)

• ca. 1945 - ca. 1946

  private collection

  Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen and Henry P. Maclhenny, Filadelfia (United States) *

• ca. 1946 - present

  museum

  Philadelphia Museum of Art, Filadelfia (United States)