Gargoyle Definitions

What's the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque? A chimera and a hunky punk? And what about a babewyn and a green man? Read on.

 

Gargoyle

An architectural term for a carved figure serving as a water spout on a building. Though gargoyles are technically functional drainage spouts, the term is now more generally used to refer to all grotesques.

Commonly represented beasts are lions, dragons, men, and perhaps most common of all are strange unidentifiable beasts – one of the reasons they hold so much mystery. 

Grotesque

An ornamental figure not meant to function as a water spout. 

Chimera

Refers more specifically to a mythological creature. (In other words, a gargoyle based on a person or a puppy would be less likely to be called a chimera.) 

Babewyn

A term from the Middle Ages to refer to both gargoyles and grotesques. 

Hunky Punk

A regional term from Somerset (south-west England) to refer to grotesques, especially squat-shaped ones that appear on churches.

Green Man

Commonly used as architectural ornaments on all sorts of secular buildings, these carvings are a face made of leaves or surrounded by them. 

Anthropomorphized building drainage spouts were first recorded in history in ancient Egypt. They reached the height of popularity in the Middle Ages on European cathedrals and churches, but are used on all types of buildings around the world and are still being carved to this day.

The Gargoyles of Notre Dame Through a Modern Lens

The famous "thinker" gargoyle that sits high atop Notre Dame in Paris is the carving that inspired Dorian, the gargoyle character in The Accidental Alchemist. Even though I've climbed the 387 steps to the gallery of gargoyles many times, whenever I visit Paris I can't resist doing it once more.

Each time I visit Viollet-le-Duc's gargoyles up close, I try to capture their spirit in a different way. In addition to using regular print and digital cameras, I've take photos of these gargoyles with my lensbaby selective focus lens and with a Holga plastic camera. And the last time I visited, I used my cell phone. I never imagined those cellphone pictures would be some of my favorite images, but that's what happened. That day, a storm was approaching, and one of the Instagram filters perfectly rendered the ominous feeling of the storm clouds.