The Quadrangle isn't the only place on the Penn campus with gargoyles. Excellent examples appear on some of the older College Houses, and the Dental School building which was built a few years after the Quadrangle has the second-largest selection. Its gargoyles include animals and birds and a selection of disturbing representations of people with dental afflictions and various physical deformities.
All of these gargoyles add an element of whimsy to the Penn campus which is very endearing — Franklin was known for his peculiar wit and the school he founded seems to have continued that tradition. Penn is an old college in American terms, at over 250 years (fourth oldest in the nation), but the unusual architecture and features like the gargoyles give it a link to even earlier times which makes you feel like you're part of history and part of a grand academic tradition going back to the gargoyle-adorned cathedral colleges of the Middle Ages. Even if you don't have a reason to be at Penn and just happen to be in Philadelphia, take some time to walk around Penn's campus and check out the gargoyles. You probably won't be able to find them all, but you'll see more than an eyeful.
I had a great set of original gargoyle photos taken with my Pentax D20, but a bad SD card foiled my plans, so I drew these images from several sources. Several came from the Philadelphia Public Art program's website, which is worth a good long look because Philly has some impressive public art. I also used some photos from a collection you can find on flickr.com. You can also find a fairly complete list of all the gargoyles at the Penn library.
Article comments
1 - Cindy
Great article Dave. I love these. They're amazing.
2 - roger nowosielski
That's a surprise, Dave. Showing other interests and talents. If you could only stay away from politics, you'd be a lovable person.