Gargoyles and Grotesques of Notre Dame de Paris

In gargoyles, as in most other things, you can never go wrong with the classics. This mysterious and slightly menacing chimera resides on Notre-Dame in Paris. I imagine that he would look quite creepy and expressive at night, and I can completely understand why so many writers (at all levels of success) have been inspired by gargoyles. This is definitely a Gothic Revival grotesque that was added when Notre-Dame was restored in the 19th century. That makes it a less-famous sibling of Le Stryge, the most iconic of all gargoyles/grotesques.

Obviously, Notre-Dame de Paris has been through a lot since I first made this post. Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened to this grotesque or any of the others in the 2019 fire. However, I’m sure that any lost grotesques will be replaced during the reconstruction. I’m eager to see what the new ones will look like. Click here to read a compilation of my yearly updates about the Notre-Dame de Paris post-fire reconstruction.