What is a Gargoyle?

A gargoyle is a quaintly formed head of an animal, body of a man with wings, carved in stone. It was used by the stonemasons of the Middle Ages as a decorative spout for the rainwater from a roof.

The builders of Gothic churches, where gargoyles were chiefly used, allowed their imaginations to take full flight, unconcerned that their little sculptured masterpieces were to be placed so high that earth-bound man could hardly see them.

Perhaps the best example of the use and variety of gargoyles is seen on top of the cathedral of Notre Dame which was founded in 1163,and stands on the Ile de Cité, an island on the River Seine, in Paris. Here hundreds of the grotesque and gaping figures reach out from balustrades and towers to sprout water clear of the cathedral walls. Victor Hugo, the French author, wrote about the walls of the cathedral in his historical romance, Notre Dame de Paris, which was later made into the film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Not all churchmen have approved of the gargoyle as a decorative embellishment. A French monk, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), one of the most illustrious and eloquent preachers of the Middle Ages, condemned them. He said that people might prefer “to spend the whole day in admiring these things piece by piece rather than meditating on the Law Divine.”