Statuary for Small People to Enjoy

Monochrome Madness this week asks us to feature statues. I could show you Michelangelo’s David. I could feature statues of The Great and The Good, as featured in all big cities everywhere. Or Nymphs and Greek Gods from set-piece fountains everywhere. But I’ve decided to go low-brow and show you pieces destined to appeal to children, or adults in search of their inner child.

Let’s begin at the Arboretum at Thorp Perrow.

Then we’ll stay local and inspect the Alice in Wonderland characters you’ll find in Ripon Spa Gardens. Lewis Carroll spent part of his childhood in Ripon, because his father was a canon at the cathedral here.

I hope you recognise the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts.

Then there’s this fellow, part of a sculpture trail promoted recently in London by the children’s charity Whizz Kidz.

Here are some gargoyles, not necessarily designed for children, but certainly appealing to them: from the Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, and the Església de Sant Julià in Argentona.

Monks and the Christian faithful – or certainly the masons working for them – generally weren’t above fashioning satisfyingly scary pieces. Here are two battered relics: one from Rievaulx Abbey, and the other from Rheims Cathedral.

My last image isn’t of a statue designed to be amusing. But Neptune at Studley Royal always makes me and any children I happen to be with laugh when the poor fellow is sporting a seagull headpiece.

And my feature photo? Are they even statues? Well, I don’t know what else to call these two. They’re from Valencia’s annual Fallas Festival, where humorous figures, originally made of wood, are toted round town in March each year to celebrate the arrival of spring.

For Leanne’s Monochrome Madness, hosted this week by PR, of Flights of the Soul.

And Debbie’s Six Word Saturday.

And Natalie’s Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC).

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

41 thoughts on “Statuary for Small People to Enjoy”

    1. You too. Currently in a woolly pully and a cosy scarf, pondering a street fair we’d thought of going to later … if it’s not raining by then.

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      1. Opposite problem for us, though I believe it’s to be a little cooler today. We opted to walk back from the restaurant yesterday and were limp as lettuce when we got here. I’ll manage a fairly lethargic t’ai chi this morning.

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  5. These are so cool, Margaret! I was in Barcelona in May and had I known about these gargoyles, I would have definitely gone there to see them 😀. The seagull on Neptune is definitely better than a pigeon 😉. I love all of your shots! Thanks for joining monochrome madness!

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    1. I love the Hospital de Sant Pau so much I go almost every time we visit Barcelona (which is often as my daughter lives near there). Please go next time you’re there!

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      2. There’s plenty to enjoy outside the real tourist hotspots. If you could manage even a few words of Spanish, or – much better – Catalan, it would help enormously!

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  7. What a fun selection! I love that carved tree trunk and it’s always great to see gargoyles in close up. I always think those stonemasons must have enjoyed that part of their work as they could let their imagination loose on them 😀 Another nice reminder of our enjoyable outing together too!

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    1. Exactly. Bird droppings aren’t my idea of a skin-food. Yes, that frog gargoyle is one of many charming features at Sant Pau which HAS to be on your Barcelona to-do list.

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  12. Margaret, Thank you for your PPAC contribution. Your photos made me smile. I love the carved tree in your first photo and the statue with the seagull in your last photo.

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  13. What a great collection Margaret and I like the way you presented it, being ones that children would enjoy. That first one of the tree when I first saw it I thought oh, the Faraway Tree. My favourite books from childhood.

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