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MEDIEVAL-RELIGION  May 2006

MEDIEVAL-RELIGION May 2006

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Subject:

Re: Gargoyles

From:

Charles Giguere <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Mon, 29 May 2006 14:34:29 -0400

Content-Type:

text/plain

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text/plain (149 lines)

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Thank you very much. I didn't know that  the gargoyles of N-D are a 19th
century restoration - darn. You are quite right: I now look rather askance
at the one in my garden, miserable little fraud that it is.

Bernadette

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Bugslag" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2006 12:20 PM
Subject: Re: [M-R] Gargoyles


> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Bernadette,
> There's not a lot I can add to Marjorie's posting.  The word "gargoyle"
comes from
> the same linguistic root as our "gargle" and indeed, they began to
proliferate on
> Gothic cathedrals with the inception of flying buttresses in the mid-13th
century, as
> part of a sophisticated system of water drainage.  Right from the
beginning,
> sculptors were highly creative with them, resulting in a rather broad
range of hybrid
> beasts and scatalogical images of figures, with the waterspout opening
commonly
> forming a mouth or other rather naughtier orifice.  In this respect, they
form part of a
> much larger range of "marginal" imagery on medieval churches that, however
much
> ink has been spilt on the matter, still largely defies satisfactory
interpretation.  It
> would, at the very least, appear that, in dealing with medieval imagery,
the radical
> distinction that we tend to make between the religious and the secular is
entirely
> inappropriate.  Emile Male, at the end of the 19th century and beginning
of the 20th,
> could declare that the marginal, and largely "secular", imagery on
churches had no
> "iconographic content".  It can no longer be maintained, however, that the
> "monsters", beasts and lewd imagery that commonly invaded the upper
reaches of
> medieval churches (and even the interiors, if we include choir stalls) was
neutral in
> its meaning, but where to situate it in the "medieval imagination" is
still problematic.
> In any case, as Marjorie also stated, the 19th century transmogrified the
whole idea
> of gargoyles tremendously.  At the huge 15th-century pilgrimage church of
Notre-
> Dame de l'Epine near Chalons-sur-Marne, the authorities were so horrified
by the
> indecency of the gargoyles that many of them were knocked off, so as not
to shock
> prudish 19th-century church goers (evidently, there were no such concerns
in the
> Middle Ages, when one could apparently seek salvation and have a good,
bawdy
> laugh at the same time).  At about the same time, Eugene Viollet-le-Duc
quite
> famously restored many of the gargoyles on the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in
Paris,
> and his creations now form a considerable part in the popular conception
of what a
> gargoyle is.  That is nowhere more evident than in the realm of garden
ornaments,
> such undoubtedly as yours (I hope that's not too disappointing!).  One can
google up
> any number of "gargoyle" sites on the web, but my advice is to remain
highly
> skeptical of most of them.  This is an area where pseudo-experts abound,
and as in
> so many areas, there is lots of fanciful nonsense available on the
internet.
> Cheers,
> Jim Bugslag
> P.S. don't be too quick to write off garden gnomes!  Like wishing wells,
there is
> undoubtedly a long and complex history behind them that possibly extends
far
> earlier than the Christian presence in Europe.
>
> On 28 May 2006 at 8:05, Charles Giguere wrote:
>
> > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture
> >
> > Forgive, O learned ones, a question which is totally banal except to
> > art-historically challenged persons like myself - what exactly is the
> > origin, meaning, symbolism, etc., of the gargoyles on Gothic cathedrals?
My
> > husband commented adversely on my setting one up in the garden after
having
> > rejected a Celtic cross (as trivialisation) and a Buddha (as cultural
> > imperialism), and I could not  provide any rationalisation. He was rude
> > enough to suggest that it was indistinguishable from a garden-gnome -
eek.
> >
> > Bernadette Filotas
> >
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