Tag: church
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Writing Prompt #17: Basilique Royale de Saint-Denis
Today’s prompt didn’t particularly interest me or feel like a good fit for this blog, but the additional challenge was to write in a style different from my usual one, which I liked a lot. I like my writing to flow and include lots of description; I never skimp on the words. Therefore, I decided…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Reims Cathedral, France
This gargoyle is so strange! From the differences in the stone, I assume that the creepy head is a later alteration or restoration, but I’m still not sure what the figure is supposed to represent. The words “crazed donkey” come to mind, however.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of St. Giles High Kirk, Edinburgh
My Facebook friend Sara requested gargoyles of the Scottish Highlands for my next gargoyle of the day. Unfortunately, I haven’t had any luck tracking down photos of specifically Highland gargoyles. So many of the gorgeous churches out there are in such a state of ruin that in most cases, whatever gargoyles they may have once had…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Notre Dame de Paris
This 19th-century grotesque comes from the great Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Westminster Abbey and Palace, London
An introduction to the gargoyles and grotesques of Westminster Abbey and Westminster Palace – two important Gothic and Gothic Revival structures in London.
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Fantastic Beasts (Oh Look, I Found One)
Harry Potter fans (such as myself) will certainly enjoy this basilisk grotesque carved into the façade of Amiens Cathedral in France. It is interesting that the basilisk (or cockatrice) of medieval legend looks almost nothing like the one described in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but its other characteristics and the deadly effects…
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The Fascinating World of Medieval Graffiti
In 2014, I was briefly fascinated with the recent discovery of medieval graffiti in English churches. Read a lengthy article on the topic I originally wrote as a guest post for a no-longer-existing blog.
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An Unusual Take on Gargoyles
I recently finished reading Thomas Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization, The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. My prior training in medieval art history had addressed the importance of the medieval Irish and Scottish monastic establishment on Western European cultural history, so the…
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La Gargouille, the evil dragon gargoyle of Rouen
One highly fanciful legend exists about the origin of the first gargoyle. It concerns a dragon who terrorized the town of Rouen, in France.
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More Gargoyles
Discover a pair of grotesques inspired by classic movies, alongside some cool Mexican-inspired ones.
