Yalemen, like most collegians, have long dwelt in the shadow of the gargoyle. Gothic architecture, with its encrusted spires and ogives, was the accepted way of making scholarship look more scholarly.

Sometimes, they’re frighteningly ugly, the things nightmares are made from. Sometimes, they’re angelic or they pay homage to others. And sometimes, “grotesque” can be the most appropriate word for ...

Junkyard bargains, from limestone putti to dented iron deer, have long been available for those with offbeat tastes. But as architectural monuments are bulldozed into extinction across the land, a new ...