Stone Faces Got Weird (12 Photos)

Stone faces that developed a personality

Some old buildings hide their funniest details high above eye level. Look closely and the stone starts staring back: a tiny peeker grips an arch, a creature bites another face, an alien bares its teeth, and several anonymous carvings pull expressions that feel startlingly human.

More: 9 Hilarious Gargoyle Statues: Medieval Humor!

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😮 Hand to Cheek — Architectural Stone Carving

A winged figure with a halo presses one hand to its cheek, mouth wide open as if it has just heard bad news.

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👀 The Curieux — Conques, France 🇫🇷

A tiny head and two hands grip the molding above the portal of the Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy, as if someone has been watching visitors from the stonework all along.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe curieux12th century · Sainte-Foy, ConquesFourteen figuresOver the tympanum archCarved stone1Wikipedia calls the curieux forerunners of the Kilroy cartoon, figures who peek over the edges of the tympanum.Wikipedia2The tympanum below them shelters at least 124 figures on a field 6.70 m wide and 3.60 m high, the tourist office says.Conques tourist office201012 MarCommons photo: Les Curieux20111 NovCommons close-up20258 JunCommons photo of the portalRead the full file →

More: Medieval humor – At Abbey of Sainte Foy, Conques, France (c. 1107)

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👽 The Alien Gargoyle — Paisley, Scotland 🇬🇧

Designed by stone carver David Lindsay during a 1990s restoration, this replacement gargoyle at Paisley Abbey became famous for its resemblance to the creature from Alien.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsAlien GargoyleDavid Lindsay · Early 1990s · Paisley Abbey, Paisley, ScotlandOne of 12 new gargoylesClashach sandstoneWorking waterspout1Carver David Lindsay says he sketched the design late one evening in 1993, as a homage to the creature from Alien.Stirling City Heritage Trust2It was one of twelve replacement gargoyles carved for the abbey’s roofline, and sits on the south-western side of the building.Scotland’s Churches Trust1993Design sketched · David Lindsay201313 OctMark Harkin photo · camera date201610 AugThomas Nugent photo · date taken202530 JanDescribed on the abbey · Paisley HeritageRead the full file →

More: Carvers Put an Astronaut, Alien and Darth Vader on Churches in Europe and the US (11 Photos)

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💦 An Unusual Waterspout — Architectural Stone Carving

This crouching figure is a waterspout. Its mouth is wide open with the tongue stretched out, and the stole it wears is marked with crosses.

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😬 The Bitten Cheek — Salisbury Cathedral, England 🇬🇧

One stone face opens its mouth wide while a smaller creature hangs on to it and sinks its teeth into the cheek.

More: Carvers Put an Astronaut, Alien and Darth Vader on Churches in Europe and the US (11 Photos)

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😮 Two Open Mouths — Architectural Stone Carvings

Two stone figures lean out from opposite sides of a building corner, each with its mouth wide open against the blue sky.

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🙃 Leaning Out — Architectural Stone Carving

This long stone figure leans out from the wall with its mouth open and its hands held across its body.

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👹 The Alien’s Eleven Neighbors — Paisley Abbey, Scotland 🇬🇧

Twelve new gargoyles went onto the restored roof and parapet of the abbey’s 13th-century nave. David Lindsay writes that a small team of carvers made them, each one different and drawn from 20th-century culture. The alien is in the third row, on the right.

More: 9 Hilarious Gargoyle Statues: Medieval Humor!

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😬 Three Faces in One Tight Space — Architectural Stone Carving

Three figures squeeze into a single crowded knot of faces and limbs. It is hard to tell whether they are posing, arguing or simply stuck.

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🔥 “Red-hot Stone” — By Deonis Thekko in Kaluga, Russia 🇷🇺

A concrete support becomes a glowing face, with painted hands pulling at its cheeks and orange light burning through its eyes and mouth. Deonis Thekko presented “Red-hot Stone” in Kaluga in August 2021.

More: Energy Inside by Deonis Thekko in Kaluga, Russia

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👃 Distorted Portrait of an Old Man — By SPK38 in Cologne, Germany 🇩🇪

An old man’s face stretches into an impossible profile, with an enormous nose, a lowered brow and features pressed together as if the wall itself had warped. SPK38 painted the gray-green portrait on a low wall in Cologne.

More: Mural by Spk38 in Darmstadt, Germany

🔗 Follow SPK38 on Instagram

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🧸 Plasticine Smiley With a Painted Corner — By Fork One in Strasbourg, France 🇫🇷

A lumpy, toy-like character with a yellow face, dot eyes and a wide red smile fills the gable end of a building. The corner it seems to bend around is only painted: Fork One made it on a flat wall for the 2026 COLORS Urban Art Festival in Strasbourg.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsUntitledFork One · 2026 · AFPA, StrasbourgCOLORS festival 2026Plasticine realism59 Rue des Corps-de-Garde1The festival says Fork paints the bumps, folds and fingerprints of modelling clay, notably with spray paint, and calls his figures companions.COLORS Urban Art Festival2A visitor who photographed it reports that the corner it seems to wrap around is an optical illusion: the wall is flat.Au bout de la Lorgnette20268 SepStreet Art Cities marker created (suggested by Zibbli); photo date not stated202619 SepVisitor’s own photos of the mural (published 16 Oct)Read the full file →

More: New Street Art! (12 Photos) — Vol. 98

🔗 Follow Fork One on Instagram