Thursday, April 03, 2008

Grotesque of War

Grotesque of War

Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

At the request of Bibi from A Yankee in Belgrade Daily Photo to see a gargoyle from the University of Washington campus, here is an image of one of the 28 grotesques that adorn Smith Hall on the Liberal Arts Quadrangle. People don't tend to notice them at cherry blossom time, but they are up there, looming. This one represents war as you might guess from the WWI style helmet, gas mask, and hand grenade. Many UW students lost their lives in WWI (you can see their names here). Dudley Pratt depicted many themes with these architectural ornaments in the late 1930s. You might remember this one that I featured last year.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is one of the most unique architectural elements that I have ever seen. The little soldier even has a grenade.

Next time I'm on the campus I will definitely look up and take notice.

Louis la Vache said...

Louis la Vache has visited this campus a number of times, but has never looked up and noticed these grotesques! Louis thanks you for calling his attention to them!

Pat said...

Well, gee, I really thank you! As a student there, I always LOVED to look up at all the gargoyles, chimeras, and grotesques at UW, and later pointed them out to my kids. In the upcoming days, I will rove Belgrade for gargoyles; there may well be some here. Thanks again, Kim!

Chuck Pefley said...

The details all around us are simply amazing - if we but look. I agree about the beauty of this campus. Love spending time there. Have you visited the medicinal herb garden?

Ken said...

Fascinating. I have never seen a gargoyle that looked like that.

Petrea Burchard said...

Ditto Ken. Really fascinating. A great shot of something truly unusual.

Marcel said...

Your posts are always so interesting. I see this is another place I have to checkout for someday. Cool photo too!

Kate said...

This photo has an unusual subject. It's really interesting and unique...I am very impressed with the gargoyle. Elicts all kinds of thoughts and emotions.

Marie-Noyale said...

A unique gargoyle indeed!!

Traca Savadogo said...

I took classes in that building and even though I did notice these, I never knew the history. Thanks for completing the puzzle!

Maya said...

I'll have to look up next time I'm on that campus. This is really interesting!

Kitty said...

wow, Kim, this sculpture looks so modern. It really looks like a current day doodad.

Kind of cute, too, although it's a war doodad.

Crafty Green Poet said...

what an intriguing architectural feature....

Stefan Jansson said...

You will have to photograph all of them I think, because I want to see them all now.