Chimera of Notre-Dame de Paris

The sculpture is carved from light-gray, porous stone, showing signs of significant weathering and lichen growth. It possesses the sharp, hooked beak of a raptor and large, alert eyes, with stylized wings folded against its torso and a ridged, crest-like spine. The creature is situated on the gallery of Notre-Dame de Paris, with a blurred view of the Parisian cityscape and modern metal support scaffolding visible in the background.

These chimeras were added during the 19th-century restoration of Notre-Dame by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, intended to evoke a romanticized, neomedieval aesthetic rather than historical accuracy. They represent the 19th-century fascination with Gothic architecture and the grotesque as a form of cultural nostalgia.