Information about gargoyle

"Gargoyles" redirects here. This article is about gargoyle statues. For other uses, see Gargoyle (disambiguation).

A gargoyle adorning the Dornoch Cathedral in Dornoch, Scotland.

In architecture, gargoyles are grotesques with spouts which convey water away from the sides of buildings. The term originates from the French gargouille, originally the throat or gullet, cf. Latin gurgulio, gula, and similar words derived from root gar, to swallow, the word representing the gurgling sound of water; Ital. doccione; Ger. Ausguss, Wasserspeier.

A chimera, or a grotesque figure, is a similar type of sculpture that does not work as a waterspout and serves only an ornamental or artistic function. These are often incorrectly referred to as gargoyles.

Statues representing gargoyle-like creatures are popular sales items, particularly in pond, goth, and New Age retail stores. Sometimes they are functional gargoyles, but more often than not they are actually grotesques modeled from famous gargoyles.

History

A view of Paris, from the Galerie des Chimères on Notre Dame de Paris.

The term gargoyle is most often applied to medieval work, but throughout all ages some means of throwing the water off roofs, when not conveyed in gutters, was adopted. In Egypt, gargoyles ejected the water used in the washing of the sacred vessels which seems to have been done on the flat roofs of the temples. In Greek temples, the water from roofs passed through the mouths of lions whose heads were carved or modelled in the marble or terra cotta cymatium of the cornice. At Pompeii, many terra cotta gargoyles were found that are modelled in the shape of animals.

A local legend that sprang up around the name of St. Romanus ("Romain") (631 – 641 A.D.), the former chancellor of the Merovingian king Clotaire II who was made bishop of Rouen, relates how he delivered the country around Rouen from a monster called Gargouille, having the creature captured by the only volunteer, a condemned man. The gargoyle's grotesque form was said to scare off evil spirits so they were used for protection. In commemoration of St. Romain the Archbishops of Rouen were granted the right to set a prisoner free on the day that the reliquary of the saint was carried in procession (see details at Rouen).

A Hellenistic gargoyle, representing a comical cook-slave. Ai Khanoum, Afghanistan, 2nd century BCE.

Although most have grotesque features, the term gargoyle has come to include all types of images. Some gargoyles were depicted as monks, combinations of real animals and people, many of which were humorous. Unusual animal mixtures, or chimeras, did not act as rainspouts and are more properly called grotesques. They serve more as ornamentation, but are now synonymous with gargoyles.

19th and 20th centuries

Monsters, or more precisely chimarae, were used as decoration on 19th and early 20th century buildings in cities such as New York (where the Chrysler Building's stainless steel gargoyles are celebrated), and Chicago. Gargoyles can be found on many churches and buildings.

One impressive collection of modern gargoyles can be found at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. The cathedral begun in 1908 is encrusted with the limestone demons. This collection also includes Darth Vader, a crooked politician, robots and many other modern spins on the ancient tradition. The 20th Century collegiate form of the Gothic Revival produced many modern gargoyles, notably at Princeton University, Duke University and the University of Chicago.

Gargoyles in fiction

Main article: Gargoyles in fiction

In contemporary fiction, gargoyles are typically depicted as a (generally) winged humanoid race with demonic features: generally horns, a tail, and talons. These fictional gargoyles can generally use their wings to fly or glide, and are often depicted as having a rocky hide, or being capable of turning into stone in one way or another.

References

Guide to Gargoyles and Other Grotesques]] (2003) Wendy True Gasch, ISBN 0-9745299-0-7
The Stone Carvers: Master Craftsmen of the Washington National Cathedral (1999) Marjorie Hunt, ISBN 1-56098-829-0 & 978-1-58834-247-8

External links

Photo gallery

Chimera of the St. Patrick Church in Flagstaff, Arizona.	View of a gargoyle on the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France.	A gargoyle on the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, Paris, France, showing the water channel.	A Japanese gargoyle adorning Himeji Castle.
Gargoyle at the St.-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk, Ostend, Belgium.	Gargoyle at Fontevraud's Abbey, Fontevraud, France.	Gargoyle at St Margaret's Church, Wolstanton, England.	Gargoyle Notre-Dame d'Amiens, France.
Gargoyle, right top, at la Llotja, Palma (Mallorca),	Notre Dame Church in Dijon, France.

A gargoyle is a grotesque statue. However, the term can also refer to:

Fiction

Gargoyles (TV series), an acclaimed animated series that ran from 1994 to 1997.

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Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. A wider definition often includes the design of the total built environment: from the macrolevel of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the microlevel of construction details and,
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grotesque commonly means strange, fantastic, ugly or bizarre, and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween masks or gargoyles on churches.
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French (français, pronounced [fʁɑ̃ˈsɛ]) is a Romance language originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and today by about 300 million people around the world as either
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Latin}}}
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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chimera means a fantastic, mythical or grotesque figure used for decorative purposes. Chimera are often described as gargoyles. Used correctly, the term gargoyle refers to mostly eerie figures carved specifically as terminations to spouts which convey water away from the sides of
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goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre.
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For other uses, see New Age (disambiguation).

New Age is the term commonly used to designate the broad movement of late 20th century and contemporary Western culture, characterised by an eclectic and individual approach to spiritual
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Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise, from a fixed location such as a department store or kiosk, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.^[1] Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery.
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Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah

Arab Republic of Egypt

Flag Coat of arms
Anthem
Bilady, Bilady, Bilady
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the largest temple in the world (early 12th century)]]

For other uses, see Temple (disambiguation).

A temple (from the Latin word templum
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Greek temples differed from their Roman counterparts in that the colonnade formed a peristyle around the whole structure, rather than merely a porch at the front; and also in that the Greek temple was not raised above ground level on a high podium, but rather stairs on either end.
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Marble sculpture is the art of creating three-dimensional forms from marble. Sculpture is among the oldest of the arts. Even before painting cave walls, early humans fashioned shapes from stone. From these beginnings, artifacts have evolved to their current complexity.
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Terra cotta (Italian: "baked earth") is a ceramic. Its uses include vessels, water & waste water pipes and surface embellishment in building construction. The term is also used to refer to items made out of this material and to its natural, brownish orange color.
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Cymatium, a molding on the cornice of some classical buildings. Sometimes decorated with an anthemion. It is characteristic of Ionic columns and can appear as part of the entablature, the epistylium, and the capital.
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cornice comes from Italian cornice, meaning “ledge.” In French: “corniche” and German: “Gesims.?

Cornice molding
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Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei.

It, along with Herculaneum, was destroyed, and completely buried, during a catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days on
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Saint Romanus can refer to:

Romanus of Caesarea (Romanus of Antioch), martyr (d. 304 AD), killed with Barulas
Romanus of Condat, abbot (d. 463 AD)
Romanus of Subiaco, monk
Romanus Ostiarius, a Roman Catholic saint, feast day August 9th.

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7th century · 8th century
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7th century · 8th century
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Chlothar II (or Chlotar, Clothar, Clotaire, Chlotochar, or Hlothar, giving rise to Lothair; 584 – 629), called the Great (le Grand) or the Young (le Jeune
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The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Rouen is Primate of Normandy and one of the fifteen Archbishops of France.

According to legend the diocese was founded by Nicaisius, a disciple of St. Denis who was martyred after arriving in Normandy.
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Commune of
Rouen

Location

Coordinates

Administration
Country France
Arrondissement Rouen
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The gargouille was a dragon and legendary creature originating from France.

The story

The gargouille, not to be confused with gargoyle, was allegedly a serpentlike water-spouting dragon that appeared in the Seine River in France.
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reliquary (also referred to as a shrine, chasse or monstrance) is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures.
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Commune of
Rouen

Location

Coordinates

Administration
Country France
Arrondissement Rouen
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Monster is a term for any number of legendary creatures that usually appear in mythology, legend, and horror fiction. The word originates from the ancient Latin , meaning "omen", from the root of , "to warn", and also meaning "prodigy" or "miracle".
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For the periodical, see .

The 19th Century (also written XIX century) lasted from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. It is often referred to as the "1800s.
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