Probably French 13th/ 14th century

The legend of the basilisk, a ruthless and deadly half cockerel-half serpent, has intrigued writers from Pliny to J. K. Rowling. In fact, R McN. Alexander (op. cit., p. 170) credits the Greek physician Nicander in the 2nd century BCE with the first account of the ‘king of serpents’. While Nicander’s description was probably based on direct observation of the natural world, from Roman times the basilisk assumed mythical shape and powers as an animal counterpart to the gorgons, capable of inflicting death simply by looking at its victim. Many medieval authors elaborated the story of the basilisk, but it was the account of the early Christian Church Doctor, St Isidore of Seville (ca. 560-636), that is credited as having been particularly influential on authors of medieval bestiaries and sculptors of architectural schemes that included images of the creature, such as the present carving.

This impressive limestone panel carved with a basilisk shown in profile would originally have formed an element in an architectural frieze or arch, probably similar to the mid-12th century arch in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 22.58.1A). As a striking example of the weird and fantastic creatures that inhabit the pagan world over which Christianity triumphs, the basilisk’s combination of cockerel and snake would have been easily identifiable to the medieval spectator. In the present relief the basilisk looks directly forward, the comb on his head (which explains its description as the king of serpents) is precisely carved. The asymmetrical arrangements of his wings suggests a forward movement, increasing his mortal threat. His thick serpentine tail curls around, forming an ammonite shape that rises to a vertical point behind him.

A marble capital carved with two opposing basilisks in the Robert McCarthy collection (Little & de Campos, op. cit., cat. no. 73 - catalogued as Southern France, mid-late 12th century) presents the creature with a more stylised tail, but similar prominent open eyes. The limestone of the present relief perhaps indicates a French origin, such as with the early 12th century capital in the Louvre (inv. RF 1850), possibly from the Benedictine abbey church of Notre-Dame et St Jean at Moutier-Saint-Jean, near Dijon. An architectural fragment carved with opposing basilisks in the Museum of Fine Art in Budapest (inv. 55.1602) provides an interesting analogy in the handling of the animal’s body in concentric lines creating a scaly body. Comparison can also be made with the basilisk carved on an exterior corbel on Santa Lucia in Brindisi which appears later in date, but has similar shaped wings and thick-set coiled tail.

RELATED LITERATURE

R. McN. Alexander, ‘The Evolution of the Basilisk’ in Greece & Rome, vol. X, no. 2, October 1963, pp. 170-181; Charles T. Little and Miguel Ayres de Campos, The McCarthy Collection Volume IV Sculpture, Verona, 2024, pp. 189-191, cat. no. 73