Tuesday 19 June 2012

Book ~ "Faces on Places: A Grotesque Tour of Toronto" (2006) Terry Murray

From Indigo.ca ~ Faces on Places takes us into the fascinating world of mythical and historical persons and icons that have been watching over Toronto and its inhabitants for centuries.

If you look up with author Terry Murray, you'll see beyond glass and steel and stone to spy Gargoyles, Griffins, Dragons, Angels, Portraits of Important Personages (and Caricatures of those same folk). Murray has photographed over sixty Toronto buildings, interviewed architects, stone carvers, and building occupants, and scoured archives for original architectural plans, to discover who these creatures are, and why they exist.

Faces on Places is organized by type of sculpture, and contains street addresses and maps for suggested walking tours. It is an elegant and reliable guide to the city's most silent and intriguing citizens.

Gord and I had done the Faces on Places Walking Tour — Gargoyles and Other Architectural Ornaments during Doors Open last month. We really enjoyed it. We are both into history and it gave us a chance to practice taking pictures.

Our guide was Terry Murray, author of this book.

This book is organized by chapters focusing on gargoyles, griffins, dragons, angels, etc. There is history of the sculptures, architects and buildings and stories to go along with them.

There is a map in the back along with a legend so you can go and see these crazy creatures for yourself. And with the book in hand, that's exactly what I'd like to do!

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