Images of Lust: Sexual Carvings on Medieval ChurchesRoutledge, 2013 M04 15 - 168 pages Sexually explicit sculptures may be found on a number of medieval churches in France and Spain. This fascinating study examines the origins and purposes of these sculptures, viewing them not as magical fertility symbols, nor even as idols of ancient pre-Christian religions, but as serious works that dealt with the sexual customs and salvation of medieval folk, and thus gave support to the Church's moral teachings. |
From inside the book
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... example, pilloried the drunkenness of a local priest, or the weight of his unabsolved sins, or both. The peacock, rarely found as here carved on corbels, had a more complex significance, drawn in part from early Christian symbolism, and ...
... example, pilloried the drunkenness of a local priest, or the weight of his unabsolved sins, or both. The peacock, rarely found as here carved on corbels, had a more complex significance, drawn in part from early Christian symbolism, and ...
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... examples, and many will be found in the pages which follow. Spanish scholars have suddenly become aware of the great wealth of 'obscene' carvings in the rural churches of northern Spain. But it is not only in Spain that one finds them ...
... examples, and many will be found in the pages which follow. Spanish scholars have suddenly become aware of the great wealth of 'obscene' carvings in the rural churches of northern Spain. But it is not only in Spain that one finds them ...
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... examples, but to what extent this is due to folk attachment, belief in magic, or identification with primeval deities it is not for us to say, for this leads to the sort of speculation we are anxious to avoid. 1 Sheela-na-gig DOI ...
... examples, but to what extent this is due to folk attachment, belief in magic, or identification with primeval deities it is not for us to say, for this leads to the sort of speculation we are anxious to avoid. 1 Sheela-na-gig DOI ...
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... example of a church which was pulled down in the eighteenth century by a well-intentioned squire (fortunately, under the influence of Walpole, Squire 'Dicky' Bateman replaced it by a gem of 'Strawberry Hill Gothick'). Virtually nothing ...
... example of a church which was pulled down in the eighteenth century by a well-intentioned squire (fortunately, under the influence of Walpole, Squire 'Dicky' Bateman replaced it by a gem of 'Strawberry Hill Gothick'). Virtually nothing ...
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... examples; he maintains that they are evil-averting devices, and sustains his argument for an apotropaic function with references to reports of superstitious practices among the 'common people', who 'rub' or touch the stones in order to ...
... examples; he maintains that they are evil-averting devices, and sustains his argument for an apotropaic function with references to reports of superstitious practices among the 'common people', who 'rub' or touch the stones in order to ...
Contents
The Romanesque background | |
The entertainers | |
Mermaids centaurs and other hybrid monsters | |
La femme aux serpents lhomme aux serpents and lavare | |
Disgust for the flesh | |
Rude gestures and ruder postures | |
More female exhibitionists | |
The distribution of sexual carvings | |
Exhibitionists and Folklore | |
Epilogue | |
Bibliography | |
Gazetteer | |
Index | |
Other editions - View all
Images of Lust: Sexual Carvings on Medieval Churches Anthony Weir,James Jerman No preview available - 2016 |
Images of Lust: Sexual Carvings on Medieval Churches Anthony Weir,James Jerman No preview available - 1986 |
Common terms and phrases
acrobats Andersen apes apotropaic Archingeay archivolt Audignon Aulnay Auvergne Baubo beakhead beard beasts Beatus bite Blesle Brioude Calvados capital carvings Castle Cathedral centaur Cervatos Champagnolles Chanteuges Charente Charente-Maritime Châteaumeillant Christian churches Classical Compostela concupiscence corbel table corbels couples Courpière decoration demons devil evil exhibitionists feet-to-ears female exhibitionist femme aux serpents figures foliage-spewers France Frómista genitals Gironde Givrezac hair hand head Hell Herefordshire Ireland Irish Italy ithyphallic Jerman Kilpeck Lavaudieu London lust Luxuria male exhibitionist masks masons medieval megaphallic male mermaids miser Moissac monks monster motifs mouth-puller Museum Navarra Offaly pair Palencia penis phallic phalloi Photo pilgrimage pilgrims Plate Poitiers pulling Puy-de-D6me Pyrénées-Atlantiques Roman Romanesque art Saint Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes Saint-Palais Saint-Savinien Saintonge San Quirce Santiago scene sculpture sexual exhibitionists sheela sheela-na-gig Shobdon showing Shropshire snakes Spain splay-legged squatting stone suckling symbolism thorn-puller Tipperary toads tongue tongue-puller Tugford twelfth century tympanum Vézelay Vienne Vouvant vulva woman women Zodiaque