download gargoyles and the catholic church

Just as with bosses and chimeras, gargoyles are said to protect what they guard, such as a church, from any evil or harmful spirits.Ī French legend that sprang up around the name of St. There are also regional variations, such as the hunky punk. When not constructed as a waterspout and only serving an ornamental or artistic function, the technical term for such a sculpture is a grotesque, chimera, or boss. Italian also uses gargolla or garguglia, when it has a grotesque shape. The Italian word for gargoyle is doccione or gronda sporgente, an architecturally precise phrase which means 'protruding gutter'. It is also connected to the French verb gargariser, which shares a Latin root with the verb 'gargle' : 8 and is likely imitative in origin. Latin gurgulio, gula, gargula ('gullet'or 'throat') and similar words derived from the root gar, 'to swallow', which represented the gurgling sound of water (e.g., Portuguese and Spanish garganta, 'throat' gárgola, 'gargoyle').

The term originates from the French gargouille, which in English is likely to mean 'throat' or is otherwise known as the 'gullet' cf. When Gothic flying buttresses were used, aqueducts were sometimes cut into the buttress to divert water over the aisle walls.

Gargoyles are usually elongated fantastical animals because their length determines how far water is directed from the wall. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on a building to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize potential damage from rainstorms.

In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle ( / ˈ ɡ ɑːr ɡ ɔɪ l/) is a carved or formed grotesque : 6–8 with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. Gargoyle of the Vasa Chapel at Wawel in Kraków, Poland

Download gargoyles and the catholic church