THE
DEVILED
In the gargoyles appear
different themes:
monsters, animals, humanoids, which in some cases are wrapped with lust,
creating terrifying sets.
The
ornamental carved figures on this Silk Exchange of Valencia show messages of curious content.
The recently restoration work left
all the details covered by the consequences of time more visible to the passersby.
"Merchants Exchange,"
as it is also known, is a magnificent secular monument declared a National
Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931 and World Heritage Monument on 7th
December 1996, which contains 28 artistic gargoyles and various ornaments in
windows, corners, facades that decorate and enrich this splendid and emblematic
work of the fifteenth century.
These Gothic gargoyles are drains
to remove the rainfall water accumulated on the roofs.
They are the work of
the "pedrapiquers" craft workshop, led by the maestro Pere Compte, especially
those located in the upper part of the building, since the rest, situated on
the Consolat del Mar, are from about fifty years later.
They represent the iconographical
statement of this property and make reference to this medieval world, inspired
by superstitions, winding tales filled with rawness and sinful customs. Are
they by any chance a satire on religion, deceit and lust, similar to the burlesque
expression shown in the fallas, although
these are made in the Middle Ages, of stone and forever?
Some believe that it was meant to show the
sin, expelling it outside the buildings (especially
the religious ones), showing them in
this way to the people, who
cannot read, just as the Romanesque transmitted the religion through its expressive fresco
paintings.
How much fun must these
great and roguish stonemasons have had while carving!
It is worth
admiring them in detail.
I invite you to see them!
LOCATION OF THE 28 GARGOYLES
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Nº1 An angelic being puts his penis in a jar |
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Nº2 A hairy man catches a reptile with his left hand. |
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Nº3 An animal with necklace tries to devour a human. |
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Nº4 A crowned and armed man opens the jaws of a lion
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The anus of the child is the drain of the gutter. |
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Nª5 A human carries a child on his head and squeeze him to defecate.
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Nº6 A king with mace and shield |
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Nº7 A monk holding a goat between his legs. |
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Nº8 A crowned eagle blocked by a scroll. |
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Nº9 A fierce animal carries two humans in its thighs. |
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Nº10 Hairy man carrying a jar in his hands. |
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Nº 11 A winged monster |
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Nº12 A woman touches her genitals |
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Nº13 A strange animal with ears, goatee, tail and wings |
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Nº14 A woman has a monkey on her lap. |
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Nº15 A humanoid hugs a reptile. |
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Nº16 A chained monkey playing a drum |
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Nº17 A winged ram with reptilian body and two vertical udders. |
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Nº18 A soldier has in his left hand a snail. |
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Nº19 A monk carrying a child on his shoulder |
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Nº20 A lion has a prey between its claws. |
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Nº21 A man prays inside the mouth of a great fish. |
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Nº22 A bat-like monster has captured a fainted hairy man. |
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Nº23 An angel sings and plays a musical stringed instrument. |
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Nº24 A monster with scales, wings and a human face (damaged). |
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Nº25 A monster wearing a lizard in his hands. Two faces appear between its thighs and a head between its legs with terrified appearance.
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Nº26 An eagle has a bat in its claws |
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Nº27 A man is bitten by a strange animal. |
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Nº28 Bizarre monster with the beak and wings of a rapacious and the ears and legs of a carnivore. |
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In this gargoyle Nr. 28 we can see the conduit to expel the accumulated water for rain on their roofs. |
Photographs by the author.
Manolo Ambou Terradez