 Erected in the centre of each facade is a vertical body that acts as buttress, in the form of a "T" that reproduces the archives initials for "Torre do Tombo".The principal and rear facades (oriented to the south and north respectively) are surmounted by eight gargoyles, sculpted by José Aurélio, representing fundamentals elements from human history or important in the particular mission of the national archive.These include gargoyles that figure as the "Guarda do Abecedário" ("Guard of Alphabetism"), the "Guarda das Ondas Hertzianas" ("Guard of Hertzian Waves"), "O Velho" ("The Old Guard") and "o Novo" ("The Young Guard"), the "a Morte" ("Guard of Death") and "O Bem" ("Guard of Good") and "O Mal" ("Guard of the Bad"); the gargoyles in the rear represent "A Tragédia" ("Tragedy") and "Comédia" ("Comedy"), "A Guerra" and "A Paz" ("Peace"), the "Guarda das Pedras" and the "Guarda dos Papiros".