That would be the character above, on the left, which was modeled on the gentleman on the right. He is the Muslim foreman who led the restoration of the tower and worked on the cathedral for 30 years. And wouldn’t you know, it’s happened in France?

Details:

The gargoyles grinning down from Lyon’s majestic St Jean Cathedral may in recent centuries have lost their power to intimidate sinners, but a new arrival has perturbed some hardliners.

In line with medieval tradition, a stonemason who worked on the edifice’s latest renovation has himself been immortalised in stone — in this case, as a new gargoyle named Ahmed, perched over the inscription “Allahu Akbar”.

The statue is named after Ahmed Benzizine, a Muslim who has worked for the firm carrying out the work for 30 years. Church officials have no problem with the caricature, but a local conservative group is angry.

Stonemason Emmanuel Fourchet decided to carve “Ahmed” as a gargoyle — a demonic medieval statue that hangs from a cathedral as both a form of rain gutter and an admonishment to the faithful — in tribute to his friend.

The “God is Great” inscription underneath, in both French and Arabic, is a tribute to his colleague’s faith, and was not meant as a slight to Christian worshippers who still use St Jean eight centures after it was built.

“I’m a Frenchman and a practising Muslim and I’ve always worked on historic monuments. I could work on mosques or synagogues as well,” Benzizine told AFP after a hardline website attempted to stir controversy.

“I have a lot of respect for sacred places,” he said, adding that it has been a tradition since the church was first built in the 12th century for stonemasons to appear in caricature form as gargoyles.

While Ahmed has adorned the Gothic masterpiece since summer without raising eyebrows, it was attacked by “Jeunesse Identitaire Lyonnais”, a right-wing group which defends the region’s traditional “ethnic and cultural identity”.

Read on for more, along with reaction.