Tag: medieval
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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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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Hotel de Ville, Brussels
Read about a part-fish gargoyle on the Hotel de Ville in Brussels.
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Nerd Candy: Doodles in Medieval Manuscripts
I loved medieval graffiti, and now I find out that there are medieval doodles, too! What more could a history nerd want? I just came across an article on Colossal (a very cool site, by the way, so be sure to follow it) about some work being done by Erik Kwakkel, a manuscript historian at Leiden University. Kwakkel is…
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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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A Guide to Medieval Irish Art
Most people are familiar with Irish art through the famous Book of Kells and through Celtic Revival motifs popular today. In this article, you’ll learn about medieval Irish artistic motifs, the types of art most likely to survive from the period, key historical context (including why Irish and Celtic aren’t synonyms), and more.
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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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Some Musings on the Meaning of Gargoyles
The more I read about gargoyles, the more I am starting to think that there is no single right answer to the question of their existence. Even if you only consider medieval European gargoyles, there is too much diversity (in style, subject matter, etc.) for any universal interpretation to be truly convincing. In fact, it…
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The First Bit of My Gargoyle Research
A few fun facts I learned while reading about gargoyles and grotesques.
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More Gargoyles
Discover a pair of grotesques inspired by classic movies, alongside some cool Mexican-inspired ones.
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Demons in Pen and Ink
Cover image: Jean Pucelle, The Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux, ca. 1324–28. Folios 154v-155r, The Miracle of the Breviary. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection, New York. In one of my last posts, I promised that I would talk about non-architectural grotesques. So meet the Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux, a fourteenth-century illustrated French prayer book…
