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Gargoyles are statues.

Grotesque is a word meaning very ugly.

Grotesque is also a style of art characterized by ornamentations that typically use scrollwork, mythological beasts, architectural elements and a playful, imaginative manner.

Grotesque does mean ugly but it is ALSO the name of those varieties of stone statues found on buildings (old cathedrals, homes, and the like). A gargoyle by definition differs from a grotesque in that it also serves as a rain spout (the mouth acted as a spout for a gutter system that passed water flowing from the rooftop, into a trough, and lastly, out of the mouth of the statue). A gargoyle can be in the shape of a grotesque-looking creature but it can also be in the shape of something more attractive, such as an angel statue.

Most statues that are commonly thought to be gargoyles (of ugly, winged creatures, usually perched on the sides of buildings) are actually grotesques because they do not serve as gutter spouts and are merely decorative.

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Q: What is the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque?
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What is the purpose of a gargoyle?

A gargoyle usually functions as a gutter drainage system, a grotesque is just for decor.


What is an example sentence with grotesque?

Sometimes, safety films have grotesque examples of the consequences involved. A gargoyle is a grotesque creature with a hidden purpose.


What is a gargoyle and what purpose does it serve?

A gargoyle is technically a functioning waterspout. In medieval times (and occasionally today), they were carved as grotesque figures to protect from evil spirits. However, the lines have become blurred and people frequently refer to any grotesque ornamental carving as a gargoyle. However, a gargoyle need not represent anything. Any waterspout relieving water from a building is a gargoyle. I am confident of this answer. I have a bachelor of architectural history and a master of architecture and I am a licensed architect.


What are the characteristics on a gargoyle?

Gargoyles are architectural features typically found on buildings. They are often made of stone and are decorated with grotesque or monstrous designs. Gargoyles are known for their function as rain spouts, directing water away from the building, and for their distinctive and often exaggerated physical features, such as menacing faces or animal-like forms.


Describe the diffence between a gargoyle and grotesque?

Grotesques are any horrific figure. Gargoylestypically act as a water spout.By that logic: All gargoyles are grotesques, but not all grotesques are gargoyles.


Where will you find a gargoyle?

Gargoyles are grotesque sculptured stone heads. They are put on building to decorate the outlets from where rain water pours off the building's roofs.


What is the difference between a grotesque and a true gargoyle?

"Gargoyles are statues. Grotesque is a word meaning very ugly." NOTE: This answer is incomplete and seems to have been answered by someone who didn't realize that the two items in question actually have a historical similarity. Grotesque does of course mean ugly but it is ALSO the name for those varieties of stone statues that are found on buildings such as old cathedrals - and which usually take the shape of an ugly mythical creature, such as a griffin. Grotesques are commonly confused with Gargoyles but they are in reality very different. One serves a function and one is purely decorative. A gargoyle by definition differs from a grotesque because gargoyles are actually rain spouts. The mouth acts as a spout for a gutter system that passes water flowing from the roof top, into a trough, and lastly, out of the mouth of the statue. A gargoyle can be in the shape of any creature, ugly or not. The ugly ones are the most common but some gargoyles are in the likeness of angels. Most statues that are commonly thought to be gargoyles are actually grotesques because they do not serve as gutter spouts and are merely decorative.


How do you use the word grotesque in a sentence?

The thick black mascara and eyeliner, plus the heavily overapplied bright red lipstick, made her look both grotesque and slightly insane, like a deranged clown from a horror movie.I found it utterly grotesque that he could sit there and make jokes about how his wife had been raped.The Black Dahlia murder is the most famous and perhaps the most grotesque unsolved murder in the history of Hollywood.


Who used medieval gargoyles?

The word "Gargoyle" shares a common root with the word "Gargle"; which comes from "gargouille", an French word for "Throat". A carved creature that does not serve the purpose of a drain pipe is frequently referred to as a "Grotesque". A true gargoyle is a waterspout. The word "gargoyle" is also a derivative from the Latin word, "gurgulio", which had a double meaning, "throat", and the "gurgling" sound water makes as it passes through a gargoyle. In medieval architecture, the gargoyles, which had to be very numerous because of the many gutters which were carried on the tops of flying buttresses, and higher and lower walls, were often very decorative, consisting, as they did, of stone images of grotesque animals, and the like, or, in smaller buildings of iron or lead. Gargoyles can be traced back 4000 years to Egypt, Rome and Greece. Terra cotta water spouts depicting: lions, eagles, and other creatures, including those based on Greek and Roman mythology, were very common. Gargoyle water spouts were even found at the ruins of Pompeii. The first grotesque figures came from Egypt.


What does a gargoyle look like?

A gargoyle is a sculpted creature typically resembling a grotesque human or animal form. They are often depicted as winged creatures with a menacing or fearsome appearance, commonly found on the roofs and walls of Gothic architecture buildings. These architectural elements are designed to serve as decorative waterspouts to channel rainwater away from the building.


What is a gargoyle?

its a statue/structure of a creature believed to ward off evil spirits.depends on the country you saw/heard about them from/ina odd or unnatural shaped carved figure of a human or animal.A human-related gargoyle is called a Hellenistic Gargoyle.A roof spout, usually on a church, in the form of a grotesque head.


What makes a gargoyle a gargoyle?

Gargoyle is a term that comes from the spout that drained water in most of their throats, and it sounded like "gargling", hence the gargoyle.