Stony evidence of demonology
The fight between'good' and ‚evil' in a religious sense was expressed during the centuries in numerous ways. Through the paintbrush, the letters, and the figures expressed in stone, in each of those ways people tried to get by with their fears of the 'evil', the unknown, the mystical, and they tried it by picturing the figures and grotesque faces of their nightmares and tales in every way they knew, and thought to take the terror from them with this. Thus we are not surprised when we see deamons in so many churches. Deamons in various shapes and expressions were hidden in the patterns of the decorating frescos, so that the marvelling visitor is always reminded of the dark side. The relationship between these artworks to reality are linked, amongst other, psychologically with the archetypes. So these pictures are buried deep within the soul, the archetype of the god and the devil, that are in each of us, in the human nature. But still it could also be that the artists just had a strange kind of humor, expressed in this work.	Examples for sculpture with demons: (click on the image to view it large) As decorations on pillars in form of a demonical mask       As ‚pillar-eaters', antipods and grotesque faces of devils.          As a relief where the shapes of human and deamon mingle       Or in form of sculptures, signs and doorknockers

Source: Dämonen und Monstren (H. Schade, Pustetverlag)