Guardian figure
Marble lion as a guardian figure in Wat Benchamabopit , Thailand
Guardian figures are supposed to protect buildings, areas or other places from harm. They guard the church, the sanctuary, the temple, etc. There are guardian figures in many religions, beliefs, and superstitions.
A devil's face over the north entrance to the transept of the Bonn collegiate church
Examples:
- Guard figures were already used in the Assyrian Empire
- In Africa, ancestral figures are used as guardians
- In India, goddesses protect temples
- The "Thousand-Armed Kannon " in Kyoto is protected by 28 guardian figures
- At the Great Marienkirche in Lippstadt there are two guardian figures of a holy grave from around 1250 in the north aisle
- Mostly at the side entrances of Christian churches, grimaces of the devil are used as deterring guardian figures.
- Artists specialize in guardian figures
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2012 Regensburg ( Memento from May 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive )