Many gargoyles share a number of common characteristics, features, and elements, particularly monsters, demons, and fantastic animals.
In this article, we examine a distinctive and highly significant element, perhaps one of those that most enhances the appearance of the gargoyle and a defining feature of some of the principal types represented in these sculptures.
We are referring to wings, perhaps the most beautiful feature of birds and an essential component of numerous fantastic creatures, whose beauty and significance are present in art and history as well as in mythology.
The Symbolism of Wings in Art and Mythology
Wings enable birds to fly. Birds also use them to protect their young, and wings therefore symbolise protection. Our fascination with wings probably derives from their association with the ability to fly, something human beings have dreamt of since ancient times. Flight is also a powerful and evocative metaphor: we may be said to fly when we move very quickly, while time itself is said to fly.
In his research, Mariño Ferro examines the symbolism of wings from Antiquity onwards. Wings appear in the works of authors such as Aelian (second–third centuries) and Achilles Tatius (second century). They are borne by Hermes, messenger of the gods, and Fama, the messenger deity of Jupiter; the winged image of the angel, God's messenger, derives from the Roman Victory. Wings also appear on the magnificent Pegasus, the Devil, Death swooping down on its wings, and the personification of Science.
The Sphinx, the Chimera, Horus, the dragon, the basilisk, and the bird-siren, among other creatures, are likewise winged. Charbonneau-Lassay notes that the Gauls placed outspread wings on their helmets. In those distant times, he tells us, wings constituted one of the ideograms of Glory, Beauty, Sublimity, Exaltation, favour or assistance expected or received from Above, and aspiration towards spiritual or philosophical heights.
Early Christian art adopted the wings associated with figures from the pagan tradition, such as Daedalus and Icarus, and incorporated them into representations of angels and blessed souls ascending to heaven. Wings thus became a symbol of divine mission and nature. Angels, archangels, seraphim, and cherubim are therefore represented with wings. We should also recall that the emblems of the four Evangelists —the man of St Matthew, the lion of St Mark, the ox of St Luke, and the eagle of St John— are represented as winged creatures.
Demonic Wings on Gargoyles
Condemned wings, the wings of the Devil, likewise possess considerable formal and iconographic significance, particularly in gargoyles. These are the wings of bats: membranous wings that Christian art attributes to Satan and, on occasion, to Death. As an attribute associated with the Devil —although he may also be represented without them— they evoke his condition as a fallen angel. From around the fourteenth century onwards, the image of the Devil with bat wings became increasingly widespread, as described by Dante in his Inferno.
Wings confer beauty, elegance, grandeur, and meaning upon gargoyles. They constitute one of the most distinctive, attractive, and evocative features of these figures. They display an extraordinary variety of forms and designs: decorated, foliate, large or small, carved in relief, spiral-shaped, fan-shaped, and many others.
Whether avian, celestial, or demonic, wings contribute to the imposing visual presence of gargoyles.
The Diversity of Wings on Gargoyles
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- Brussels City Hall (Belgium)
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- Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon (Portugal)
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- San Martín Pinario Monastery (Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
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- Batalha Monastery (Portugal)
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- Brussels City Hall (Belgium)
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- Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon (Portugal)
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- Bruges City Hall (Belgium)
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- Mirepoix Cathedral (France)
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- Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon (Portugal)
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- Burgos Cathedral (Spain)
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- Segovia Cathedral (Spain)
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- San Martín Pinario Monastery (Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
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- Segovia Cathedral (Spain)
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- Batalha Monastery (Portugal)
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- León Cathedral (Spain)
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- Burgos Cathedral (Spain)
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- Aachen Cathedral (Germany)
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- Burgos Cathedral (Spain)
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- Aachen Cathedral (Germany)
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- Batalha Monastery (Portugal)
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- Burgos Cathedral (Spain)
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- House of Shells (Salamanca, Spain)
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- Burgos Cathedral (Spain)
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- Bayonne Cathedral (France)
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- Burgos Cathedral (Spain)
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- Bayonne Cathedral (France)
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- Burgos Cathedral (Spain)
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- Bayonne Cathedral (France)
Batalha Monastery (Portugal)
Bibliography
CHARBONNEAU-LASSAY, L., El bestiario de Cristo. El simbolismo animal en la Antigüedad y la Edad Media, vol. I y II, Palma de Mallorca, José J. de Olañeta, Editor, 1997.
FERGUSON, G., Signs & symbols in Christian Art, New York, Oxford University Press, 1961.
LINK, L., El Diablo. Una máscara sin rostro, Madrid, Editorial Síntesis, S. A., 2002.
MARIÑO FERRO, X. R., El simbolismo animal. Creencias y significados en la cultura occidental, Madrid, Ediciones Encuentro, 1996.
This entry was originally published in March 2020 and updated in September 2026.
Doctor of Art History and researcher specializing in the study of gargoyles.
I am Dolores Herrero Ferrio, and my thesis, “An Approach to the Study of Gargoyles of Gothic Cathedrals in Castilla and León”, is dedicated to the study of these fascinating figures.
If you like gargoyles and art history, you will also enjoy my book, “The Gargoyle and Its Iconography,” a book I have written with great care for those interested in the world of gargoyles.
I have created my own Encyclopedia of Gargoyles, a Gargopedia to share with you, where you will discover all the secrets and wonders of these enigmatic sculptures.
I hope you enjoy this Gargopedia as much as I have enjoyed creating it, and remember that each gargoyle has a story to tell, and here you will discover them all.
