 | Knowledge |
|
| |  | Gargoyles |
Gnibo created an article from about 2075 text blocks
Photos and history of gargoyles at Princeton University. If you have Acrobat Reader, you can also download a fast, easy-to-navigate version of the text and photos (architecture.ab....gargoyles/)
The most likely truth is that all of these elements come together in explaining both the existence and our attraction to gargoyles and grotesques; the conscious, the unconscious, primitive religion, myth, Christian conversion, practicality and certainly the stone cutter's joy of creation. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Lester Burbank Bridaham, Gargoyles , Chimeres and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture. Da Capo Press Series in Architecture and Decorative Art, Vol 21. New York Da Capo Press, 1969. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Russell Sturgis, writing in Sturgis' Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture and Building , defines a gargoyle as a: A water spout, . projecting from a gutter and intended to throw the water away from the walls and foundations. In medieval architecture, the gargoyles , which had to be very numerous because of the many gutters which were carried on the tops of flying buttresses, and higher and lower walls, were often very decorative, consisting, as they did, of stone images of grotesque animals, and the like, or, in smaller buildings of iron or lead. Many cultures throughout history have created sculptures of fantastic creatures. These figures stir our imaginations, as they stirred the imaginations of the carvers who lovingly created them. We struggle to understand and explain them, delving deep into the realms of psychology, culture, symbols, history and religion. One of the more common belief is that gargoyles served as protectors, keeping evil away from the buildings and their occupant (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Romanus subdued the dragon by making the sign of the cross and then led the now docile beast back to town on a leash made from his priest's robe. La Gargouille was then burned at the stake, it is said that his head and neck were so well tempered by the heat of his fiery breath, that they would not burn. These remnants were then mounted on the town wall and became the model for gargoyles for centuries to come. 3 (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Gargoyles can be traced back 4000 years to Egypt, Rome and Greece. Terra cotta water spouts depicting: lions, eagles, and other creatures, including those based on Greek and Roman mythology, were very common. Gargoyle water spouts were even found at the ruins of Pompeii. The first grotesque figures came from Egypt. The Egyptians believed in deities with the heads of animals and frequently replicated these deities in their architecture and wall paintings. When the Greeks saw the Sphinx, they began to incorporate grotesques into their own beliefs. The Greeks believed in many grotesques such as harpies, centaurs, griffins, and chimeras. Greek architects would often place statues of animals called acroterium, in the forms of griffins, at each corner of the roof of their treasuries and temples. In Greek mythology, griffins guarded the gold of Scythia from the Arimaspians, a race of one eyed giants or Cyclops, who would try to steal the gold. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Gargoyles and grotesques have always given carvers and sculptors a chance to delight in their creativity and to explore the possibilities in the dance between stone and imagination. Gargoyles freed carvers from the limits imposed by other types of carving, and this was especially true in the Middle Ages. It is certain that stone carvers love creating these pieces, and viewers certainly love seeing them. This may be one of the more compelling reasons they exist. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
France has over 100 cathedrals, most built in the middle ages, with Notre Dame being the most famous. In the Middle ages, the populace, for the most part, could not read and write. Churches used visual images to spread the scriptures and reinforce biblical stories. These included; paintings, frescos, stained glass, figures, sculpture and gargoyles . Some believe that gargoyles were inspired directly via a passage in the bible . Others believe that gargoyles and grotesques do not come from the bible , but were inspired by the skeletal remains of prehistoric beasts. Others will argue that they are the expression of man's subconscious fears or, that they may be vestiges of paganism from an age when god would be perceived in trees and river plains. The churches of Europe carried them further into time; maybe to remind the masses that even if god is at hand, evil is never far away and to act as guardians of their church to keep the evil spirits at bay. 3 (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
During the 1200's when gargoyles first appeared in Europe , the Roman Catholic Church was actively converting people of other faiths to Christianity. Since most people were not literate, images were very important in communicating ideas and telling the stories of the faith. Many of the religious images that non-Christians were accustomed to were of pagan origin and were of animals or mixtures of animals and humans. Integrating familiar images on churches and cathedrals was thought to encourage the populace to accept the new religion and ease the transition from the old ways and old beliefs. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Pope Gregory's instructions to St. Augustine regarding the conversion of the pagan people to Christianity offered additional incite into the role of gargoyles : Destroy the idol. Purify the temples with holy water. Set relics there, and let them become temples of the true God. So the people will have no need to change their place of concourse, and, where of old they were wont to sacrifice cattle to demons , thither let them continue to resort on the day of the saint to where the Church is dedicated, and slay their beasts, no longer as a sacrifice but for social meal in honor of Him whom they now worship. Pope Gregory legitimized the integration of pre-Christian and pagan practices and symbols into the Christian church as a strategy to facilitate the peoples conversion to Christianity. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
For this reason only skilled architects and craftsmen were allowed to work on the sculpturing and of the cathedral. These skilled craftsmen possessed the skills necessary to create the detailed creatures known as gargoyles and grotesques. One way for the town's people to help the church was to aid in the building or the decoration of it. The skills of the people were diverse, but all art had the same aim: to express in the created the glory of the Creator 9 p117 (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
The cathedral also served as a sermon in stone which could be read by an illiterate population. Some gargoyles clearly fill this instructional purpose by illustrating Bible stories such as Eve's reach for the apple and frightening images of eternal damnation. Since gargoyles were on the outside of the cathedral and scenes of the Bible and statues of Jesus, Mary and the Saints where common inside the building, this represented God's power to protect the believers . They also represented the struggle between good and evil and symbolized how God was the only protection from evil in a fallen world. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Gargoyles stand guard, warding off unwanted spirits and other creatures and If they're hideous and frightening enough, it was thought they would be especially effective in scaring off all sorts of other threatening creatures. Perhaps it was even believed that some came alive at night protecting people when they were most vulnerable. Better still, the ones with wings could fly and protect the village as well as the church. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Gargoyles crafted during Medieval times became increasingly grotesque in design. Soon they were referred to as chimeras because of their representations of creatures that were not of this world half man, and half bird or beast. These new incarnations were either depicted sitting on their haunches or poised to take flight. They also possessed over exaggerated muzzles or beaks and other odd appendages. They were positioned on a cornice molding so they projected forward and away from the building for a number of feet. In this way the gargoyle was able to spew water far from the building. Although the demons and monsters so prevalent in cathedral sculpture may seem almost quaint to modern eyes, the men of the Middle Ages did not find them so. In a time when illiteracy was almost a universal condition and belief in a literal, waiting Inferno prevailed, the purpose of most cathedral sculpture was not decorative but instructional. It was intended, to scare the hell out of its beholders, and there is every reason to believe it did a creditable job, presenting the horrors of damnation in living color (of which only faint traces remain today (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
One of the most notable examples of Gothic architecture that incorporated many gargoyles and grotesques is Notre Dame cathedral, in Paris. It is interesting to note, that; once lead drainpipes were introduced in the 16th century there was no longer any practical need for gargoyles . However, architects and builders continued to incorporate them into their building designs, but now gargoyles served only a symbolic, spiritual, religious, decorative or whimsical purposes. (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
North America also has its fair share of gargoyles . They protect many of the older buildings in cities like New York , Chicago and Philadelphia . University campuses are also prime habitats for gargoyles with Princeton and Duke Universities, being a good examples. There are 6 gargoyles at the old Headquarters of the Philadelphia Fire Department at 1328 Race StreetPhiladelphia, PA. These whimsical characterizations are outstanding examples of the use of gargoyles in modern times and capture the essence of what it means to be a fireman (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
A very common image represented in the genre of gargoyles and grotesques is the Green Man. He is one of the most common figures and he stares down at us from the roofs, pillars and doorways of our great cathedrals and churches all over the world. The Green Man appears on second century Roman columns and in Hindu temples in India. He is found all over England, Wales and Scotland. He is present in the great banks and financial houses of Wall Street . His roots may go back to the hunters who painted the caves of Lascaux and Altimira. In one of his many manifestations as Robin Hood and the Morris Dances of Old England, he is chiseled in wood and cut into stone even to this day by men and women who no longer know his story but sense that something old and strong and tremendously important lies behind his leafy mask. One of the earliest English epic poems Gawain and The Green Knight may refer to another manifestation of the Green Man as the God that dies and is reborn This powerful theme of death and rebirth runs through all the diverse images and myths of the Green Ma (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
Athena sent Perseus to slay Medusa, she lent him her shiny shield and Hermes lent him her winged shoes. Perseus approached Medusa while she slept and taking care not to look directly at her, guided by her image reflected in the bright shield, he cut off her head and gave it to Athena. In her ugliness, Medusa was the grand sculptor, a creator of gargoyles and grotesques, immortalizing their flesh by turning it into stone (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
But go back a second. The living, Medusa turned men from flesh to stone-prototype gargoyles , one must surely suppose, with faces stretched into goblin grimaces of horror. Faced with her own reflection, she became a stone monstrosity (her mouth open in a shriek from which dirty water might pour during rainy spells, one may also suppose), one which living men might look upon with no fear of their lives.but without fear for their sleep at least.and, at most, their sanity. I am suggesting that the gargoyles .may continue to perform their original function: to drain away that which might cause rot and erosion. Their horrible, stony faces offer a unique catharsis; when we look upon them and shudder, we create the exact reversal of the Medusa myth; we are not flesh turned to stone, but flesh proving it is flesh still, if only by the bumps that cool flush of fear always produces. It is not too much to say that great art, no matter how primitive, constantly recreates the imagination, and keeps it from turning to ston (northstargallery.com....goyles.htm)
|
Home | About | Add URL
Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Gnibo.com, All rights reserved
|
