Gargoyles on the Cathedral of Quito, Ecuador. Photo by Delphine Ménard (notafish) via Wikimedia commons.
You guys should know by now that I love non-European gargoyles, particularly when they take forms distinctly different from what we’re used to seeing. These Ecuadorean gargoyles representing local wildlife certainly fit that bill. Above, we can see several species of bird gargoyles, and below are some other creatures including a pair of alligators. This post on abritinecuador.com includes some wonderful photographs of other critters including tortoises and armadillos. A few more cool photos can be found in this article from darkroastedblend.com as well.
Alligator gargoyles on the Basilica del Voto Nacional in Quito. By Maros M r a z (Maros) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons.There are two main churches in Quito – La Catedral and La Basilica del Voto Nacional. Unfortunately, sources don’t agree on which church the top-most image comes from, but the others are definitely from La Basilica del Voto Nacional.
Alexandra Kiely, aka A Scholarly Skater, is an art historian based in the northeastern United States. She loves wandering down the dark and dusty corners of art history and wholeheartedly believes in visual art's ability to enrich every person's life.
Her favorite periods of art history are 19th-century American painting and medieval European art and architecture. When she not looking at, reading about, writing about, or teaching art, she's probably ice dancing or reading.
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2 thoughts on “Gargoyle of the Day: Quito, Ecuador”
Fans of old television tell us that jumping the shark is a bad omen, but they never explain what to do when stone sharks leap out of the masonry and go flying over our heads. I think that clarifying this omen could be an important focus of prophetic research in the coming decade.
A Scholarly Skater 
Fans of old television tell us that jumping the shark is a bad omen, but they never explain what to do when stone sharks leap out of the masonry and go flying over our heads. I think that clarifying this omen could be an important focus of prophetic research in the coming decade.
I like the way you think. 🙂