Gárgulas : representações do feio e do grotesco no contexto português. Séculos XIII a XVI

Abstract

O estudo das gárgulas enquanto representações do feio e do grotesco nos edifícios religiosos revelou-se como uma importante aproximação ao imaginário medieval e tardo-medieval em contexto nacional. Para além da sua função utilitária, as gárgulas espelharam o quotidiano do homem, com os seus medos e tensões, o seu fascínio por fenómenos sociais e comportamentais e materializaram, sob forma artística, o confronto entre o tecido religioso e o tecido social, entre a crítica e o exemplo, assumindo uma relevante função pedagógica junto do público-alvo. Esta função catequizante teve contornos especiais por causa do papel das gárgulas no contexto das reformas religiosas do século XVI, o que coincidiu entre nós com o apogeu da sua colocação.

The study of the gargoyles as representations of the ugly and the grotesque in religious buildings has proven to be an important approach to the medieval and late medieval imaginary in the national context. Apart from their utilitarian purpose, gargoyles mirrored the daily life of humans, their fears and tensions, their fascination with social and behavioral phenomena, and displayed, in the form of art, the confrontation between the religious and the social spheres, the critique and the example, taking on an important educational role amongst audiences. Such catechizing character gained special contours given the role of the gargoyles during the religious reforms of the 16th century, which coincided with the heyday of their placing in Portuguese constructions.

The study of the gargoyles as representations of the ugly and the grotesque in religious buildings has proven to be an important approach to the medieval and late medieval imaginary in the national context. Apart from their utilitarian purpose, gargoyles mirrored the daily life of humans, their fears and tensions, their fascination with social and behavioral phenomena, and displayed, in the form of art, the confrontation between the religious and the social spheres, the critique and the example, taking on an important educational role amongst audiences. Such catechizing character gained special contours given the role of the gargoyles during the religious reforms of the 16th century, which coincided with the heyday of their placing in Portuguese constructions.