“OLHA!” IL NOME DELLA GÁRGULA, UN CONGRESSO GIUBILARE, IL MEETING POINT A LISBONA: TOPICI PORTOGHESI DA DISSODARE

Abstract

Stimulated by the themes and the sessions of the International Congress held in Lisbon in July 2014 on the presence and activity of the Dominican order, the historical-visual itinerary is focused on different Portuguese topics as the medieval Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória and his extraordinary waterspout system which consists of symbolic gargoyles, concluding with some reflections solicited by an exhibition organized in the city of Tago dedicated to two artists from different eras. In the second paragraph the analysis is centered on some gargoyles and their particular symbolic-decorative and functional shapes, and on seemingly distant territories, so that post-Tridentine episcopal interventions in the Portuguese diocese of Leiria are compared with those of the contemporary dioceses of Southern Italy, where the phenomenon of funeral lamentations was spread. Phenomenon which recalls some of the anthropomorphic gargoyles examined. The last section develops specific iconological themes that the exhibition Meeting Point allows to view, considering, finally, the power of images and of some archetypes that are survived to the present day thanks to the visual artist luso-british Paula Rego.