About Gargoyles & Grotesques

While all gargoyles might be grotesque, all grotesques are not gargoyles. If it serves as a drainpipe and is used to drain water from a building, it's a gargoyle. All other carvings on the outside of a building - no matter how scary they might be - are called grotesques or chimeras.

Since the bloody reign of La Gargouille came to its inevitable end, gargoyles have "devolved" into less intimidating creatures, but supersition still holds they keep evil spirits at bay and serve as protection. In fact, gargoyles have served more than a few purposes, among them art, storytelling, and symbolism. But let's take a look at some of the more fanciful beliefs attributed to them:

Gargoyles have been believed to come alive at night, in order to protect the lives of humans entrusted to their care, and returned to their perches before the sun came up.

They served both as a warning to be wary of the evil lurking in the physical world, as well as the evil in men's souls.

Gargoyles on churches were often believed to be evil creatures frozen in stone; when one had labored long enough in the service of God, it earned its release and was then allowed to enter the church and thereby, heaven.

Some people believed gargoyles to be actual sin, made real and captured in stone. Other gargoyles, such as lions or dogs, were believed to be forces for good also captured in stone, ever vigilant and watchful over their human charges.

The chimera above perches on the medieval chapel of Saint-Chappelle, on Ile de la Cité, in Paris. Copyright Jenie Clark 2006 - all rights reserved

In 2002, four students at the Sup' infograph school for cinema and animation in Nice, France, created Sacrilège, a short film about two blackguards who attempt to steal the holy grail from its place in the chambers beneath Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. From February to June 2002, Nicolas Gasseau, Mathieu Negrel, Alexandre Olivier, and Jerome Platteaux used Maya 4 to produce six very creative and well-executed minutes of computer-generated animation. It's one of my favorite short films, and I guarantee you that once you've seen it, you'll never look at Notre Dame and her gargoyles the same way again.

You can visit Jerome Platteaux's webpage and look at stills from the film and then download it from the link currently at the very top of the page. I heartily recommend that you do!

Top still image copyright Sacrilege 2002

With a little help from Quasimodo!

Work on the cathedral of Notre Dame began in 1163 and was completed nearly two full centuries later, in 1345. By the 18th century, however, the great church was scorned for its gothic architecture, it's 400 year old stained glass windows smashed and tombs destroyed. Just before the Revolution, many of its gargoyles and sculptures were deemed tasteless and removed, and during the Revolution, all real or perceived traces of wealth, religion, and the monarchy followed. The cathedral fell into disrepair and neglect, and for twenty years was used to house livestock. It wasn't until the publication of Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" that the cathedral, through Hugo's love of it as represented in Quasimodo's tower and its gargoyles, once again won a place in the hearts of the Parisian people.

Architect Viollet-le-Duc was one of Notre Dame's new fans and spearheaded the restoration effort. It was he who was responsible for carrying out the cathedral's reconstruction. In the next 23 years, he restored the cathedral to its glory and returned the Gallery of Kings to the western facade and gargoyles and grotesques to the parapet and uppermost reaches of the towers, where they once again watch over the city of Paris.

To see these fascinating creatures eye to eye today, one need only climb the steps of the north tower, to the parapet and upper reaches. Stare down monsters and take in Paris from their point of view. It's well-worth the effort.

The gargoyle above peers over a courtyard from the parapet of Notre Dame de Paris, on a north-facing wall. Copyright Jenie Clark 2006 - all rights reserved