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"QUANTUM SHOT" #697
Link - article by Simon Rose and Avi Abrams


      Still Wonderfully Strange... After All These Years

      We had such a great time creating the first "Gargoyles and Grotesques"
      article last year that we couldn’t resist taking another look at a selection of
      these wonderful objects from around the world.

      
      (images via
        E. K. Chua,
        Wenzel)

      Although this astronaut carved into the facade of the cathedral in
      Salamanca in Spain has attracted some theories about alien visitors in
      antiquity, it was apparently merely added during restoration work in 1992,
      to symbolize the modern era:

      
      (image via)

      And here’s a dragon enjoying his ice cream, situated on the same cathedral
      (left)... and we can't even identify the creature on the right:

      
      (images credit:
        George Krauss,
        2)

      This somewhat perplexed-looking medieval gargoyle is from Freiburg in
      Germany:

      
      (image via)

      Another hilarious one is also from Freiburg (it is, however, not safe for
      work, so we just giving the link
      here). Here’s a great example from St. Vitus’ Cathedral in Prague:

      
      (image
        via)

      How about this monkey in Oxford, ready to leap off his perch at some
      unsuspecting passerby? On the right is another grotesque, found in Oxford:

      
      (image credit:
        Claire Parfrait)

      Also in Oxford, at the Bodleian Library, some gargoyles have been added in
      recent years. Children who participated in a contest designed these
      carvings. Here we see Tweedledum and Tweedledee from Alice in Wonderland:

      
      (image via BBC)

      Still in Oxford, perhaps this is what really happens to students who don’t
      study hard enough? (similar fate falls on gargoyle in Dinard, Bretagne -
      shown below right):

      
      (images credit:
        1,
        2)

      While not adorning buildings, these lawn ornaments show how gargoyles have
      been a source of inspiration far removed from their original purpose:

      
      
      (top image
        via)

      This wonderful face expression example can be found in Cambridge, in
      England (left). The one on the right appears on the wall of Westminster
      Abbey in London:

      
      (images via 1,
        2)

      These modern carvings in the cloister of Gloucester Cathedral in England
      are actually self-portraits of the stonemasons who created them (left). On
      the right some restored gargoyles sing the blues:

      
      (images via
        1,
        2)

      The gargoyle shown below left literally opens up its heart to show how it
      feels... The figure on the right, with a very distinctive hairstyle, is a
      feature of the Church of St John the Baptist in Cirencester in England:

      
      (images credit
        Brian, 2)

      Here is a skeptical, grumpy figure from New York... it certainly makes you
      wonder, what he’s reading? -

      
      (image
        via)

      These magnificent carved beasts decorate Saint Rombaut’s Cathedral in
      Antwerp, Belgium (left). Below right we see a gargoyle from Grand Place in
      Brussels:

      
      (images via
        1,
        2)

      We showed last time how Darth Vader is featured on the walls of
      Washington’s National Cathedral. There are many carvings decorating the
      building, such as this impressive looking monster:

      
      (image credit:
        Victoria Pickering)

      And this one entitled, "The Thief":

      
      (image
        via)

      Gargoyles aren’t confined to churches, of course, and are found on many
      different types of public buildings around the world. You can even find
      gargoyles in the most unlikely places, such as this one at the airport in
      Denver, perhaps sympathizing with any travelers facing a long wait for
      their flights:

      
      (image credit:
        Charles Pfeil)

      This menacing figure is located on the Eastern State Penitentiary in
      Philadelphia, which once housed such notorious criminals as Al Capone.

      
      (image via)

      So there you are, another fascinating look at the strange, intriguing,
      unusual and at times bizarre stone carvings displayed on buildings around
      the world. Not all gargoyles belong to the mists of time, however - here's
      how the MODERN gargoyles could look like:

      
      
      (top photo sent in by Melissa Mork)

      Over in San Francisco, there is a little known figure on the Bay Bridge...
      Bay Bridge gargoyle keeps people safe (placed there after the 1989
      earthquake when part of the Bay Bridge collapsed):

      
      (image and more info
        via)

      And perhaps, the weirdest of all - "The Vampire Rabbit", placed over the
      ornate doorway of solicitors' offices on Amen Corner, behind St Nicholas'
      Cathedral, in Newcastle... The significance of this creature (if any)
      nobody can deduce to this day:

      
      (image
        via)

      ALso READ PART 1 OF THIS ARTICLE ->

      Simon Rose is the
        author of science fiction and fantasy novels for children, including
        The Alchemist's Portrait,
        The Sorcerer's Letterbox,
        The Clone Conspiracy,
        The Emerald Curse,
        The Heretic's Tomb
        and
        The Doomsday Mask.




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YOUR COMMENTS::

7 Comments:

Blogger qpop said...

I'm pretty sure the "Vampire Rabbit" is meant to be a Vorpal Bunny and is a Monty Python reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_of_Caerbannog

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A gargoyle has a water spout coming out of it. If there's no water spout, it's called a grotesque.

___  
Blogger lixo said...

nice pics! i have some too: https://picasaweb.google.com/Eduardoyamin/CarasDeBuenosAires#

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do you know this one.
Built on the occasion of the construction site of restoration of the cathedral Saint Jean, in Lyon (France), it is in the effigy of Ahmed, leader of the construction site for 30 years, and accompanied in French and in Arabic of the registration" God is great". That maid a little discord for some reason.
Here is a link to the photo :
http://www.france-info.com/IMG/jpg/e/b/b/gargouille_franceinfo.jpg

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The photographer", in the cathedral of Palencia (Spain):

http://picasaweb.google.com/ttorcas/Palencia#5320800765405224866

___  
Blogger dorean paxorales said...

an asshole gargoyle, on the cathedral of the city of Guarda, Portugal:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nTAiYXUI0OU/TdJPGpGY4RI/AAAAAAAAC2g/0wL-bYt8LYU/s1600/cu_Guarda1.jpg

___  
Blogger Skyliner said...

Look at these two little men on a rooftop in Manchester.

No one knows very much about them but here's an article

http://hayleyflynn.tumblr.com/post/4965672483/skyliner-3

___  

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