Tag: church
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Wells Cathedral, Somerset, UK
Two weeks ago, I talked about the mouth puller grotesque and how common he can be in Gothic architecture. The grotesque above belongs to a related type – the thorn puller, who struggles to pull a thorn or some other painful irritant out of his foot. The thorn puller appears in many different churches and may…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Today’s grotesque came to my attention via Atlas Obscura, a fantastic place to find fun, quirky facts and interesting locations to visit. This little bull figure lives on one side of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. The church is heavily-laden with sculptural decorations of many styles and subjects, but this bull has a story separate…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Duomo, Milan
In 2012, Milan’s Duomo came up with a pretty cool fundraising idea. In order to come up with the necessary funds to support restorations efforts, this massive Gothic cathedral decided to put its 135 gargoyles up for adoption. Donors could pick a gargoyle to contribute to, receiving a little name plaque underneath “their” gargoyle. This article on swide.com…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of St. Vitus, Prague
The rooster is one of early Italian St. Vitus’s attributes, so it’s quite fitting that a rooster gargoyle can be found on his beautiful Gothic church in Prague. Some people think that this figure depicts an eagle. I disagree, but I can understand how one might come to that conclusion without knowing about the saint’s association to the rooster.…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of St. Denys, Aswarby, Lincolnshire
This square-ish fellow kind of reminds me of an early video game creature. When I went to get the image link, I noticed it was titled “Hunky Punk”, which I thought was interesting. I googled the term and discovered that “hunky punk” is a term specifically used in Somerset, England to describe grotesques (never true…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques in Quito, Ecuador
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…
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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 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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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 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…
