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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... her belly; another squatting figure of indeterminate sex, and two squatting figures exhibiting male and female genitals agonisedly (Fig. 1). To twentieth-century eyes these seem like sculptural caprices, carved by Introduction.
... her belly; another squatting figure of indeterminate sex, and two squatting figures exhibiting male and female genitals agonisedly (Fig. 1). To twentieth-century eyes these seem like sculptural caprices, carved by Introduction.
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... sculptural caprices, carved by exuberant masons out of sheer fun and devilment, and we may be inclined to dismiss them as nothing more than creations of whim and whimsy. But sculptors then, as workers now, did not carve what they were ...
... sculptural caprices, carved by exuberant masons out of sheer fun and devilment, and we may be inclined to dismiss them as nothing more than creations of whim and whimsy. But sculptors then, as workers now, did not carve what they were ...
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... sculptures but does not have a monopoly of them. They can also be found in the British Isles (see Plate 1 ). In ... sculptural ideals and themes, and why these were transmitted and copied over a wide area of Europe within a short space ...
... sculptures but does not have a monopoly of them. They can also be found in the British Isles (see Plate 1 ). In ... sculptural ideals and themes, and why these were transmitted and copied over a wide area of Europe within a short space ...
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... sculptures have clung to existence that has mystified students of the bizarre, and a number of opinion's about their possible origin, purpose, and longevity have been expressed. One view is that they are vestigial idols of some ancient ...
... sculptures have clung to existence that has mystified students of the bizarre, and a number of opinion's about their possible origin, purpose, and longevity have been expressed. One view is that they are vestigial idols of some ancient ...
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... sculptures. Who can tell what archetypal atavistic symbolism lurks behind the conscious mind of the creative artist? We shall devote a chapter to a consideration of the folkloric aspects of our subject, and, whenever the need arises, we ...
... sculptures. Who can tell what archetypal atavistic symbolism lurks behind the conscious mind of the creative artist? We shall devote a chapter to a consideration of the folkloric aspects of our subject, and, whenever the need arises, we ...
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