Architectural Details: Gargoyles & Busts

  • <p>One of four gargoyles, sheathed with copper, decorates the Gothic Revival tower of Memorial Hall at Harvard University.</p> <p>A gargoyle sheathed with copper decorates a Gothic style tower against a clear blue sky.</p>

Architectural Details: Gargoyles and Busts

Four copper gargoyles from 1878 sit overlooking Memorial Hall on thin turrets at each corner of the building. A classic feature of gothic architecture, gargoyles have both aesthetic and functional purposes, usually serving as decoration for drainpipes. With their open mouths and scowling faces, Memorial Hall's gargoyles hold true to both gothic aesthetics and tradition, originally diverting rainwater away from the building's facade.

  • <p>Memorial Hall Tower during a fire in the 1950s.</p> <p>A black and white photo from the 1950s of the Memorial Hall Tower burning in a fire. Water from a firehose shoots up into the flames while a crowd watches from below. Scaffolding surrounds the top portion of the tower.</p>

In 1956, the top portion of Memorial Hall's tower was ruined by a fire. One of the four gargoyles was destroyed; another fell from the tower but survived. Previously preserved by the Fogg Museum, where it used to be hung out of the museum's second story at Commencement, it is now displayed at the Queen's Head Pub in the lower level of Memorial Hall.

  • <p>Two copper gargoyles on Memorial Hall's steeple.</p> <p>A close up Memorial Hall's steeple, featuring two oxidized copper gargoyles set against red bricks. Widener Library, a large red-brick building with white columns across the front, can be seen in the distance. It is a clear winter day.</p>
  • <p>The surviving gargoyle from Memorial Hall's tower fire in 1956. It is now preserved at the Fogg Museum.</p> <p>A light green, oxidized copper sculpture of a gargoyle head and neck.</p>
  • <p>Copper gargoyle on the exterior of Memorial Hall Tower.</p> <p>A close up view taken from underneath one of Memorial Hall tower's gargoyles, as seen in profile against a cloudy sky.</p>

The two other gargoyles also survived the fire and have remained in their perch. The whole tower was restored in 2000 to its original design, including the four gargoyles that sit atop the edifice today.

  • <p>A close up view of a bust of Cicero as seen on Memorial Hall's edifice.</p> <p>A close up view of a bust a bust of a man, Cicero, on the edifice of a red-brick building. The bust is situated within a rounded stone archway, and the sun is illuminating the left side of Cicero's face.</p>
  • <p>A close up view of a bust of John Chrysostom on Memorial Hall's edifice.</p> <p>A close up view of a bust a bust of a man, John Chrysostom, on the edifice of a red-brick building. The man has short hair and a long beard that extend past the shoulders of the bust. The bust is situated within a rounded stone archway, and the sun is illuminating the left side of Chrysostom's face.</p>
  • <p>A detail of the busts that decorate the exterior Memorial Hall. These busts portray famous thinkers, like Wilhelm Demosthenes, a noted Greek statesmen and orator.</p> <p>A close up view of a bust a bust of a man, Wilhelm Demosthenes, on the edifice of a red-brick building. The man has short, curly hair and long beard. The bust is situated within a rounded stone archway.</p>
  • <p>A close up view of a bust of Wilhelm Bousset on Memorial Hall's exterior.</p> <p>A close up view of a bust a bust of a man, Wilhelm Bousset, on the edifice of a red-brick building. The man has shoulder-length hair. The bust is situated within a rounded stone archway. It is a cloudy day.</p>

The edifice of the building is also decorated with several portrait busts of notable orators, thinkers, and scholars. They are set around the dome of Sanders Theater, and include:

  1. Marcus Cicero, a famous Roman orator
  2. John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople, known for his preaching and public speaking
  3. Wilhelm Demosthenes, a notable Greek statesman and orator
  4. Wilhelm Bousset, a notable German theologian and scholar
  5. William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, a British statesman of brilliant oratory
  6. Daniel Webster, an American lawyer and statesman
  7. Edmund Burke, an Irish-born British statesman, economist, and philosopher

  • Architectural Details: Gargoyles and Busts