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One of the most fascinating aspects of art is the representation of women<\/strong>. There is sufficient material to write several theses about this enthralling subject, but here you have a brief contribution in recognition of the importance of the female figure in all the arts.<\/span><\/p>\n Today\u2019s post is devoted to the representation of women in gargoyles<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n Although some of the theories held about women in the distant past now seem ludicrous and unacceptable, they nevertheless serve to shed light on past convictions and female representations in many gargoyles. Unfavourable attitudes towards women, especially in the period in which mediaeval gargoyles appeared, influenced many of the gargoyles in cathedrals and other buildings.<\/span><\/p>\n One example of these theories is that given by Aristotle (4th century BC), which subsequently influenced mediaeval theologians, who considered women to be \u201cdefective men\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Augustine of Hippo (4th-5th centuries) stated that humans are divided into two parts, where the superior element (reason and the spirit) is masculine and the inferior element (the body, the flesh) is feminine.<\/span><\/p>\n In the Bible, the harlot (Babylon) is depicted as a woman clothed in purple and scarlet, wearing jewels and seated on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns and blasphemous titles (Ap. 17, 1-8).<\/span><\/p>\n Le Goff contends that in the Middle Ages, Christian religion conveyed and dictated its principles, teachings and also its repressions to society. In this period, even original sin came to be viewed as a sin of the body, a sexual sin, when in truth it was a sin of pride. Hence, the body \u2014and by extension, woman\u2014 was the primary victim of Adam\u2019s and Eve\u2019s sin.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\t\t