Double Capital Fragment

Unknown

late 15th century · Stone · The Cloisters

Like many objects from George Grey Barnard’s collection, this fragmentary double capital has had an eventful history. Originally made for an unidentified cloister, one side depicts the Temptation of Adam and Eve, with the serpent slithering up the trunk of the Tree of Knowledge, its human face appearing amid the branches. In the sixteenth century, Protestant iconoclasts disapproving of the imagery disfigured the serpent’s face and Adam’s entire body. Later still, the sculpture seems to have relocated to someone’s garden, where it was repurposed into a sundial. The dial’s weathered markings and the date (1728) are visible atop the block.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 15th century

Medium

Stone

Culture

French

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

The Cloisters Collection, 1925