Synopses & Reviews
Multitudes of gargoyles haunt the medieval buildings of western Europe, peering down from churches and cathedrals, houses and town halls.
Holy Terrors offers a fresh and irresistible history of these wildly varied characters — a society of stone creatures perched high above the workaday world.
The true gargoyle is a waterspout, an architectural necessity that medieval artisans transformed into functional fantasies. The informative introduction to Holy Terrors explains everything that is known or conjectured about the history, the construction, the purposes, and the mysterious meanings of these often rude and rowdy characters. The three chapters that follow are devoted to the gargoyles themselves, imaginatively carved of stone in the form of people, real animals, and fantastic beasts. In clear, lively language, Janetta Rebold Benton puts these personality-filled sculptures into the context of medieval life and art and captures their quirky diversity in her engaging color photographs.
Concluding the book is an invaluable guide to gargoyle sites throughout western Europe, as well as suggestions for further reading. This is the first book for adults to provide an intelligent and entertaining overview of medieval gargoyles, and it is bound to increase the already abundant legions of gargoyle admirers.
Synopsis
The true gargoyle is a waterspout, an architectural necessity that medieval artisans transformed into functional fantasies. In clear, lively language, the introduction to Holy Terrors explains everything that is known about the history, construction, and purposes of these often rude and rowdy characters. The three chapters that follow are devoted to the gargoyles themselves, in human, animal, and grotesque form. Delving into their sometimes funny, sometimes mysterious meanings, Dr. Benton's entertaining text puts these irresistible creatures into the context of medieval life, and she provides a guide to gargoyle sites, so that readers can visit their favorites. This is, amazingly, the first book for adults to provide a full overview of medieval gargoyles, and it is bound to increase the already numerous legions of gargoyle admirers.
Synopsis
A charming survey of these mischievous creatures, illustrated with engaging color photographs
from the rooftops of Europe and Great Britain.
The true gargoyle is a waterspout, an architectural necessity that medieval artisans transformed
into functional fantasies. In clear, lively language, the introduction to Holy Terrors explains
everything that is known about the history, construction, and purposes of these often rude and
rowdy characters. The three chapters that follow are devoted to the gargoyles themselves, in
human, animal, and grotesque form. Delving into their sometimes funny, sometimes mysterious
meanings, Dr. Benton's entertaining text puts these irresistible creatures into the context
of medieval life, and she provides a guide to gargoyle sites, so that readers can visit their
favorites. This is, amazingly, the first book for adults to provide a full overview of medieval
gargoyles, and it is bound to increase the already numerous legions of gargoyle admirers.
Janetta Rebold Benton, author of Abbeville's Medieval Menagerie, is Professor of Art History
at Pace University, Pleasantville, New York, and a popular lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art.
109 illustrations, 108 in full color