ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT

New Zealand Tablet, 26 February 1914, Page 34

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT

E.O'C. —There is not the slightest warrant for the absurd suggestion that figured gargoyles were placed on cathedrals to ■•" frighten evil spirits. The object of the gargoyle, or projecting spout, is simply to lead water from the roof gutters of buildings; and while gargoyles of various forms have been used in almost all styles of architecture, they were peculiarly developed 'in connection with Gothic architecture. The Cyclopedia of Arts and Sciences gives the following account of the history and significance of the figured gargoyles, and ""its version is confirmed by all the other authorities whqm we have consulted ' Gargoyle, in Gothic architecture, is a spout which is carried out from ;parapets in order to discharge the water from roofs clear of the wall. Medieval-; architects, who almost -: invariably made the subsidiary ~ features of their .i.': buildings of an ornamental character, so as to con- ... duce to the general effect, saw at an early period ■ i . the ■-.; service which these; humble objects might be ..*.-: made to render. . Instead of having merely plain .: projecting pipes for their spouts,, they covered the • : pipe with a block .of stone, which they, carved in fiij general accordance with the rest r of the sculpture; 09 ai but regardful of the ignoble j purpose ,to which it -.5 was applied, gave it a decidedly grotesque char6fi acter. Sometimes ifc-b-isvj^a* r, human figure ,n «t'j; »h\t * • with? ',-. 9,1 distorted « ; countenance j

sometimes 'an animal or a monster. Usually the water ‘is made to 1 pass through the open mouth, but sometimes it f passes from a pipe ’ concealed below. ” Occasionally the figures appear to ,he caricatures of particular persons or bodies of men; but almost always, as we have said, they are grotesque.’ In other words, the carved gargoyles had their origin merely in the love of ornament and artistic exuberance of the medieval architects.