no 1, Guillaume II (Kaiser Wilhelm II)

no 1, Guillaume II (Kaiser Wilhelm II) , 1914–1918

Portfolio/Series title: Les Monstres des Cathedrales (The Monsters of the Cathedrals)

Where object was made: France

Material/technique: halftone print

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 139 x 88 mm
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 x 19 in

Credit line: Anonymous gift

Accession number: 2010.0008

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Machine in a Void: World War I & the Graphic Arts," Mar-2010, Steve Goddard
When Notre Dame was restored in the mid-18th century, artists and photographers were invited to climb the scaffolding and capture images of the new and hopefully improved cathedral. The freestanding stone chimeras in particular caught the popular imagination, with countless images of the statues appearing in prints, drawings, and photographs of Notre Dame. By the early 20th century, the chimeras had come to stand not only for Notre Dame but also Parisian (and to some extent French) identity. Thousands of postcards of the chimera were produced, and during World War I, these immediately identifiable monsters were recast in a series of postcards, this time as German and Austrian heads of state and military leaders.

This postcard shows the pensive “le Stryge” with the head of Kaiser Wilhelm II, identifiable thanks to his helmet and handlebar mustache. The caption reads: “The greatest monster, Satan under the guise of a messenger of God, who has unleashed the horrible war which has bloodied Europe and ordered all sacrileges.”