f the grotesques were designed by kids! In 1984 National Geographic World magazine held a draw-a-grotesque contest. The winners: sagacious grotesque, Bertha's braces, raccoon on lookout, and Darth Vader.All are placed high on the northwest tower, but you can see them with binoculars. Back to Stuff for Kids & Teachers You will find that an inordinate number of gargoyles have their mouths wide open and their tongues protruding. Why? The mouth pulled open is a frequent symbol of devouring giants. In order to convey size in a small sculpture, much smaller figures are placed next to the "giant". The act of pulling the mouth open is a threatening gesture which serves to remind us that we are vulnerable to forces larger than ourselves. These figures were situated atop buildings of the Greeks and Romans, usually placed at the apex or corners of a triangular roof. Often they represented a figure that was essential to the use of the building, such as a religious or imaginary individual that helped to illustrate what the building was sued for, whether it be a temple of one type or another. While there is little evidence that suggests why these figures were actually placed atop the buildings, most of the evidence suggests that the reasons were either symbolic, much like the use of gargoyles for repelling evil, or for architectural balance, in light of the fact that the architecture of these cultures was incredibly grand ...
