A Scholarly Skater
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31 Days of Medieval Manuscripts
31 Days of Medieval Manuscripts is a series I wrote in October 2015 as part of my participation in a 31-day bogging challenge. Participants were encouraged to select a specific topic to focus on during the challenge, and I chose medieval manuscripts – a topic I love and studied extensively in college. Every day, I…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Melrose Abbey, Scotland
I’ve recently been reading a book about the history of British myths and legends concerning dragons, so it made sense to me that today’s gargoyle should be from the United Kingdom. I was looking for some sort of dragon-like gargoyle but fell in love with this bagpipe-playing pig instead. Isn’t he charming? I found him via ferrebeekeeper’s blog; look there…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Eastern State Penitentiary, Pennsylvania
I probably should have saved this one for closer to Halloween, but I just couldn’t wait because it’s almost too good to be true. This very threatening-looking, shackled gargoyle can be found on the exterior of the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’m not sure if the gargoyle is functional or not, but it…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques in Nicosia, Cyprus
Sometimes, I know in advance what I want to feature on Gargoyle of the Day; other times, I simply browse until something strikes my fancy. I might be inspired by an image I come across, or an idea might pique my interest, in which case I look for the most dynamic gargoyles in that category. Today, I saw…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Sagrada Família, Barcelona, Spain
The Sagrada Família (Holy Family) is a Spanish church designed by Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) in the late nineteenth century. It is famous for the sheer exuberance of its design and the abundance of its architectural details. Gaudí’s design was so elaborate, in fact, that the church is still incomplete today. I had never really thought…
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Gargoyle and Grotesques of Windsor Castle
I’ve noticed that many of the quirkiest and most unique gargoyles that catch my eye are from England. This little man looks almost like he could be a cartoon character or a figure in an animated movie about the Middle Ages.
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Carmina Burana
I’ve been working on a dance routine to “Carmina Burana” and wanted to do some research on the history of the piece. I was planning to write more about gargoyles this week, but I decided to write about this instead when I saw a picture of the original medieval manuscript.* Before it was a well-known piece of…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of All Saints’ Church, Gresford, Wales
Here are some subtle and cheeky grotesques from All Saints Church in Gresford, Wales.
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Gargoyle and Grotesques of St. John’s Cathedral, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Technically, these little fellows are grotesques rather than true gargoyles, but who cares when they’re so charming? Apes, monkeys, and related creatures had rather poor connotations in the Middle Ages, symbolizing a variety of evils and sins including greed and lust, but this pair is depicted with a touching humanity nonetheless.
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Gargoyles in Pop Culture: Pick Five
Recently, while establishing a Pinterest account for A Scholarly Skater, I did a search for the keyword “gargoyle” and came across some pretty unusual stuff. I’ve searched for that term often enough times to know that there are plenty of twentieth and twenty-first century gargoyles out there. They occasionally appear on buildings, which I’ve talked…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Washington National Cathedral
The National Cathedral in Washington D.C. is a rare and wonderful example of twentieth-century architectural design including gargoyles and grotesques with all the cleverness and authenticity of their very best medieval ancestors. For this, we have to thank the creativity and skill of the craftsmen who carved them in much the same way they would…
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Rose Valland – Art Spy Extraordinaire
Rose Valland was a French museum administrator who worked as a spy and saved countless works of art during World War Two.
