The Gargoyles of the Burghers’ Lodge in Bruges. Art History

Today’s entry is devoted to the gargoyles of the Burghers’ Lodge (Poortersloge) in Bruges, a magnificent building situated in the Jan van Eyck Square.

From the 15th century the Lodge was a meeting place for the burghers of Bruges. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was the Fine Arts Academy. Like most of the buildings in Bruges, this construction is aesthetically sublime, and its gargoyles, although of the usual characteristic type, add harmony and a touch of magic to the architecture of this lovely city.

Burghers’ Lodge in Bruges (Belgium).

The gargoyles are fairly similar and we can see two types of figure represented in them. On the one hand, we have animal monsters, winged quadrupeds and hybrids (eared birds) with fur and protuberances from certain parts of their bodies. On the other, we see demonic-looking figures with features that are characteristic of this typology: batwings – a membranous tail is also visible in some of them – goatee beards, sunken trachea, enormous claws, aggressive expressions, the forelegs absent or embedded in the body, one of them with reptilian neck.

Overall, they are splendid gargoyles, excellently carved to create figures of great plasticity and expressiveness.