What is the history behind gargoyles?
Gargoyles were originally designed in 13th century French architecture as a means of disposing of water. Think of them as the precursor to the gutter. Typically, a trough was cut into the back of the gargoyle and the rainwater was able to run off of the roof and through the gargoyle’s mouth.
Why did Gothic architecture use gargoyles?
The Gargoyles of Gothic Architecture Gargoyles have a practical purpose: they’re spouts, enabling rainwater to drain off the roof and gush through their mouths, before plummeting to the ground.
Why do Gothic churches have gargoyles?
In architecture, and specifically in Gothic architecture, a gargoyle (/ˈɡɑːrɡɔɪl/) is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between.
Are gargoyles evil or good?
A gargoyle is usually chaotic evil. Gargoyles are sentient, cunning, and malevolent to the extreme.
What is the spiritual meaning of gargoyles?
Many considered gargoyles the spiritual protectors of churches as well, scaring off demons and evil spirits. Some historians believe gargoyles were inspired from pagan eras and were used to make churches feel more familiar to new Christians.
Are gargoyles pagan?
The relation of gargoyles to paganism is quite fitting. While classic gargoyles are a product of the middle ages, the practice of decorating drain spouts with animals, and creatures like gargoyles goes way back, even to Ancient Egypt and other pagan/non-christian places.
What was the spiritual purpose of gargoyles?
What was the purpose of gargoyles on buildings?
Gargoyles are waterspouts that help rainwater flow away from a building’s walls. They’re carved from a block of solid stone, usually granite.
What culture are gargoyles?
While both types of Gothic sculpture are designed to scare, gargoyles also serve an architectural purpose: they double as waterspouts, catching and draining rainwater. These gurgling figures gained prominence in Medieval France, though earlier editions have existed in different cultures for centuries.
What is the most famous gargoyle?
Notre Dame Cathedral
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris Perhaps the most well-known gargoyles in the world hover on Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Technically known as grotesques (true gargoyles have waterspouts as mouths), these monstrous creatures glare ominously down on the City of Light.
Are gargoyles Pagan?
What was a gargoyle in the Gothic period?
A gargoyle is a grotesque that also acts as drain-spout. In art history, a grotesque is any fanciful figure reminiscent of those found painted on the walls of grottoes— or cave-like ruins—in Ancient Rome. During the Gothic period, however, the term grotesque was used specifically to describe the peculiar sculptures found on…
What is the purpose of a gargoyle in a building?
In architecture, a gargoyle ( / ˈɡɑːrɡɔɪl /) is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between.
Who are the gargoyles and grotesques of the center ages?
The gargoyles and grotesques of the Center Ages, they recommend, are essentially Celtic deities whose tales were given through oral folkways and whose likenesses stayed amulets of good luck as well as protection.
Where are the earliest examples of gargoyles found?
Among the earliest instances of gargoyles is a collection of lion-shaped water spouts built into the side of the holy place of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Ancient Egyptian architecture additionally flaunts gargoyles, most of these additionally formed as lions.