Hidden treasures at nearby Yale

KENT — “I don’t have psychic powers, but I know you’re all wondering why I’m dressed like this,” Mathew Duman said to the audience at the Kent Memorial Library on Saturday, June 10. Duman, a photographer and graphic designer, was wearing a safari helmet and vest that said “Gargoyles Tour Guide” on the back. 

Duman was at the library to talk about the unique stonework and gargoyles that decorate Yale University’s campus. His presentation included information and photos from his new book, “An Education in the Grotesque: The Gargoyles of Yale University.” 

The self-published book has hundreds of photos of gargoyles and grotesques (a broader term for stone carvings that can include gargoyles). He said the photos started as a personal project that he decided to compile into a book on the recommendation of a friend. 

Duman talked about the gargoyles on Yale’s campus, their history, significance and humor. 

“Once I noticed one, I just started seeing all the others,” he said. 

There are hundreds of gargoyles and grotesques on the campus. They can be found on academic buildings, libraries and dorms and depict everything from famous graduates such as Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards to comical scenes of students asleep at their desks during class.

The grotesques and gargoyles have always been a part of the buildings on Yale’s campus, Duman said. Some date back to the earliest buildings at Yale; more recent carvings depict students distracted by modern technology such as the radio. 

“The grotesques were designed to cultivate a sense of loyalty, unity and history for visitors,” Duman said. “They communicate the identity of Yale so visitors realize they are somewhere special.” 

One face that appears in many of the grotesques and gargoyles is Handsome Dan, a bulldog who is the school mascot. 

“The hidden bulldogs are kind of like hidden Mickeys at Disneyland; to me, Yale is like Disneyland,” Duman said. 

His photos show Handsome Dan in many shapes and forms; on one building, he is dressed as different members of the student body — a football player, a military officer, a studious boy with glasses that cover his entire face. 

The Sterling Law building, home of Yale Law School, includes grotesques and gargoyles that represent the students and subject matter taught inside. Over one door, a criminal is torn between a devil and an angel, over another a police officer is pointing a gun at a robber. 

Duman said that the design and creation of the carvings varied. In some cases, masons would come with sketches prepared and then a committee of students, faculty and university officials would vote on them; in other cases Duman said he suspected the process was a lot less formal. 

Although some of the grotesques and gargoyles are as old as the university, many were produced in the 1930s during the Great Depression. A lot of building projects were completed during that time period at Yale, Duman said. 

“I think that donors could get a tax break for university donations and Yale could take advantage of the funding,” he surmised.

In addition to his photographs and book, Duman leads walking tours of the grotesques and gargoyles at Yale. 

“I’ve given up on saying that I think I’ve found them all,” he said. “Every time the leaves fall again, I find a whole bunch more.”