gargoyle memorials

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A statue, a bust, a park, a hospital, an athletic field, a bridge, a highway ... naming such things in memory of notables and philanthropists is not unusual.

Milan's Duomo cathedral

But if I had philanthropic money to toss around and wanted "to be remembered" for something, I think I would buy in to the main cathedral in Milan where, for a requisite 100,000-euro donation, I could have my name chiseled under a gargoyle. Milan's Duomo, the fourth largest cathedral in the world, is in need of repairs.

Gargoyles are fantastic carved representations that were and are used to convey water away from the structures they adorn. In church mythology, they were intended, as well, to convey a sense of evil to a largely illiterate audience: Evil was kept outside the church ... and you'd better remember that evil is waiting to pounce, in this life of the next ... and put some money in the collection plate.

Gargoyles have sass. Tombstones do not. If I were going "to be remembered," I would rather be remembered for sass than gravitas.
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