Missy Nahoopii 3 April at Unknown 8 August at Unknown 4 September at Unknown 6 September at Unknown 2 November at Unknown 21 February at Imam Mahdi is Coming 10 March at Unknown 18 April at Fusymarc 18 April at DownWithTheCommi's 25 June at Winjelin Angkasa 10 February at Unknown 11 August at The cathedral was the manifestation of their faith. Every person in the community contributed something. Those with no gold to give could harnass themselves to the large carts which dragged stones from the quarry to the building site.
The cathedral was to be the most beautiful structure on earth, and no task was considered too arduous for the glory of God. The cathedral was also to be a "sermon in stone" which could be "read" by an illiterate population.
Some gargoyles clearly fill this instructional purpose by illustrating Bible stories, from Eve's first reach for the apple to frightening images of eternal damnation.
But not all gargoyles were for religious instruction. Some were simply grotesque. One reason for this is the belief that frightening figures could scare away evil spirits, and they were put on the outsides of buildings to do just that. Once you've looked at 50 or gargoyles, you'll begin to notice some recurring themes. These are likely to be signs and symbols of European paganism. For example: Disembodied Heads : You will see a lot of heads that have become detached from their bodies. This harks back to the 5th Century Celts who were, in fact, head-hunters.
They worshipped the heads that they had severed, believing them to hold a powerful force. If you make eye contact with one, you may find out that this is true. Pagan religion existed to confront and surmount chaos and danger. Chaos is represented by lifeforms which do not fit into known categories. Gaping Mouths You will find that an inordinate number of gargoyles have their mouths wide open and their tongues protruding. The mouth pulled open is a frequent symbol of devouring giants.
In order to convey size in a small sculpture, much smaller figures are placed next to the "giant". The act of pulling the mouth open is a threatening gesture which serves to remind us that we are vulnerable to forces larger than ourselves.
Men With Foliage The Celts often depicted a human head entwined with foliage. Branches coming from the mouth or crowning the head were a sign of divinity. Often, the branches are of the oak tree which was sacred to the Druids. Images like this have come to be called "Jack O'Green" or "The Green Man" Sex Objects Fertility was the major theme of pagan religions, and fertility symbols were not excluded from cathedral walls.
If these symbols were on the outside walls, they might scare off evil spirits. This would explain how some fairly crude sexual imagery came to be preserved on the outer walls. However, some would argue that these images may arouse more than they discourage.
The most crudely sexual image is perhaps that of Sheelagh-na-Gig, commongly found on medieal Irish churches. Gargoyles are widespread on medieval buildings. That is because dividing the flow of water minimalized the potential damage coming from each gargoyle's mouth, and because of the great number of gutters carried on the top of flying buttresses and walls.
Benton 14 In the Gothic era, especially in the Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic styles of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, gargoyles were the preferred method of drainage, but, especially in areas of the building which were not exposed to view, waterspouts were not necessarily carved as gargoyles. Benton 12 Their architectural function may have been served originally by wooden or ceramic waterspouts. The introduction of stone for this purpose made the possibility of carving them into ornamental forms more inviting.
Benton 10 Although they are a common feature of the late Romanesque and the Gothic period, gargoyles appear throughout architectural history starting in Ancient Greece and Egypt until today. The Egyptians, their religion having a great number of hybrid deities, were the first to depict grotesque figures in their architecture and wall paintings. The Greeks incorporated these deities and ideas of hybrid creatures in their beliefs.
So there can be found harpies, centaurs, griffins, and chimeras in Greek mythology. Later on, statues of griffins would be placed at each corner of the roofs of their temples and treasuries, because it was said that griffins guarded the large amount of gold in Scythia, a town far north of Greece, from the Arimaspians Cyclops who were constantly trying to steal the gold. Gutters in Greek architecture were added to the ends of a building's roof using pottery tiles with their edges turn upward.
Sometimes those tiles were added to the sides of the buildings. In this case, carved marble lion heads with open mouths aligned the gutters. The rainwater ran down the gutter and came out of the lion's mouth. Lions were used because they symbolized the strength of Greece. They should protect the building and its inhabitants from enemies and ward off evil spirits. Online Source 9 The erection of the great churches and cathedrals of the Middle Ages took generations.
So it is difficult to date the creation of a gargoyle. The replacement of gargoyles due to decay is also complicating the dating of gargoyles. But it can be said that at the beginning of the twelfth century the first gargoyles in the modern sense appeared. Benton 11 The medieval gargoyles' shapes seem to have evolved over the years. They got longer in size, some of the later examples are up to one meter in length, and were carved finer as earlier examples.
At the end of the thirteenth century the figures got more complicated, and human figures tended to replace animals. Since the fourteenth century they generally have been long, slender, and very detailed. They also got more exaggerated and caricatured, in the fifteenth century they even got less demonic, but more amusing through energetic, exaggerated poses and facial expressions.
Benton 12, 15; Online Source 8 As the subjects depicted in Gothic sculpture included over the years more and more non- religious themes, gargoyles, too, seem to have lost some of their religious connotations.
They were used on buildings up to the sixteenth century. Benton 15 The term "gargoyle" was derived from French gargouille meaning 'throat' and Latin gurgulio meaning 'gullet'. Encyclopedia Britannica, p. It swallowed ships, caused destruction with its fiery breath, and spouted so much water that it caused flooding. The residents of nearby Rouen attempted to placate La Gargouille with an annual offering of a live victim; although the dragon preferred maidens, it was usually given a criminal to consume.
Around the year , the priest Romanus or Romain arrived in Rouen and promised to deal with the dragon if the townspeople agreed to be baptized and to build a church. Equipped with everything needed for an exorcism, Romanus subdued the dragon by making the sign of the cross. La Gargouille was burned at the stake, but the head and neck, well tempered by the heat of the dragon's fiery breath, would not burn. These remnants were mounted on the town wall and became the model for gargoyles for centuries to come.
Online Source 6 The functions of gargoyles were manifold: first of all there was their architectural purpose, which is almost lost today. Only a few gargoyles fulfil that function today. With some examples it is not even sure if water ever issued from the gargoyle's mouth.
Another important function may have been the religious education of the mainly illiterate populace. Benton 21 Although this is the opinion of most experts, it stands in contrast to the appearance of gargoyles on secular buildings and private homes, and high on church buildings, where they can barely be seen with the naked eye, and that not two of them were alike.
The absence of gargoyles shaped in forms of the standard repertoire of medieval imagery also speaks against this theory.
Jackie Craven. Art and Architecture Expert. Jackie Craven has over 20 years of experience writing about architecture and the arts. She is the author of two books on home decor and sustainable design. Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Craven, Jackie. The Real Story of the Gargoyle. The Griffin in Architecture and Design.
American Victorian Architecture, Homes From to Architecture for our Spirit and Soul - Sacred Buildings. Corbels in Architecture—A Photo Gallery. The Clerestory Window in Architecture. Wonders of the World - Winners and Finalists.
The Cornice Is Architecture's Crown. Your Privacy Rights. Because most Medieval Europeans were illiterate, the clergy needed visual representations of the horrors of hell to drive people to the sanctuary of the church. Churches would also model gargoyles after the creatures worshipped by pagan tribes, thinking this would make their houses of worship appear more welcoming to them.
It was a bit of clever marketing that worked, according to scholar Darlene Trew Crist. Although the name gargoyle dates back just a few centuries, the practice of crafting decorative, animal-themed drain spouts reaches back several millennia.
The ancient Egyptians had a thing for lions, as did the Romans and the Greeks. The oldest gargoyle-like creation is a 13,year-old stone crocodile discovered in Turkey.
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