In the background you are hearing the 15th-century English Christmas “Boar’s-Head Carol,” and looking at a closeup of a boar hunt from the month of December in the lavishly illustrated _Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry_ (circa 1440). In my home state of Pennsylvania, deer rifle season is heralded by hunters as an important […]
Boar Hunting in “Tres Riches Heures du Duc be Berry” Read More »
This illustration of the Garden of Eden comes out of one of the most lavishly decorated Medieval manuscripts in history, the _Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry_ (c. 1416). Close examination reflects much more than the basic story from the Hebrew Bible’s story of the expulsion out of earthy paradise. For one, the world
Beauty Standards in “Tres Riches Heures du Duc be Berry” Read More »
She looks lovely, doesn’t she? Well, if not lovely, certainly fancy. But turn to the next slide, and you’ll get a very different view. This two-sided ivory pendant of an aristocratic woman was carved in the Netherlands around 1500, and perfectly represents a Late Medieval artistic motif called “momento mori,” or “remembrance of death.” In
Late Medieval Motif Momento Mori Carving Read More »
The Ancient Romans atttibuted the Goddess Vesta with the power to keep Rome safe and prosperous, and they conceived of these qualities with the symbols of fire, penises, and female chastity. Vesta’s ancient temple (third slide) in the city of Rome had sacred fires, tended to by full-time priestesses whose ritual care preserved the integrity
Ancient Roman Goddess Vesta and the Temple Servants Read More »
Medieval people from every social status played games, but wealthy ladies and gentlemen had the resources for specialer ones. The first image you see here is the earliest intact deck of playing cards, known as the “Flemish Hunting Deck.” Made up of fifty-two hand-painted cards, the deck was created about 1480, and used real gold
Medieval Table Games Read More »
Happy St. Lucy’s Day! Would you like to celebrate by meditating on gouged-out eyeballs? In a tradition stemming from the Middle Ages, saints who had been martyred were frequently shown in artwork with either the instrument of death (Lucy was also stabbed — see the knife?), or the body parts in their story recieving the
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This closeup of a female figurine now at the Penn Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology is an example of similar ones common to the Kingdom of Judah in the 8th through 6th centuries. (The second image shows more.) Historians debate their meaning — did they represent the Cannanite Goddess Asherat, who was sometimes associated as
Female Figurines in the Kingdom of Judah Read More »
The tradition of gift-giving in human history resonates deeply this time of year, and although we usually think of this custom as a joyful one celebrating bonds of affection, love, and friendship, anthropologists have studied it in other contexts. Shown here in this 15th-century engraving by Northern Renaissance artist Martin Schongauer is a legend famous
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Here is a rare painting of Frau Minne, the Goddess-Allegory of Love popular among German-speaking Europeans in the Middle Ages. Her actions radically contradict the ways we often think women were expected to behave: Minne is forceful and violent, and she is always victorious. Here in this 14th-century coffer she is about to pierce the
Frau Minnie – The Allegory of Love Read More »
One of the best things about your day today is not waking up to ergot poisoning. Unfortunately, this condition caused great suffering to many throughout history. In the Middle Ages, people called it “St Anthony’s Fire,” after a 4th-century saint who was said to have endured hallucinations and burning sensations — two of the many
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The Ancient Roman deity Janus appears as a two-headed God. With one face looking backwards in time and the other forward, he was appropriately worshipped at the start of the New Year. Janus was invoked for good luck in all new undertakings, and today many of us continue a long tradition when we set out
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You are looking at a sixteenth-century Japanese scroll showing pictures of “tsukumogami:” discarded household items that become angry at their lack of use and turn into animated demons. My favorite story from this genre of folk tales comes from another sixteenth-century work known as the Sufuku-ji scrolls. It begins with a haunting warning about how
Ancient Japanese Folklore – The Tsukumogami Read More »
This is Michaelangelo’s portrait of the Biblical prophet Moses, designed for the tomb of the powerful and controlling patron of the great artist, Pope Julius II. Completed in 1545, Michelangelo’s sculpture immediately causes viewers pause: Moses has horns protruding from his head. The bestial qualities of a horned animal long resonated among European Christians as
Artistic Misinterpreted Representations of Moses Read More »
This illustration from the late 12th century shows a woman spinning, taking the wool from her distaff and winding it around the spindle. Not shown here is a baby in a cradle at her feet. Multi-tasking like this has been part and parcel for women throughout history: we have led busy lives. While much women’s
Constant Multitasking in Women’s Lives Read More »
Check out this early selfie: it’s a first-century CE Ancient Roman fresco showing a woman looking at herself in a mirror. The image is a rare subject in early art, largely attributable to the fact that mirrors were extremely expensive throughout most of human history. Often, they were made of polished stone, like obsidian, or
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Here is a grim piece of testimony concerning the horrific ways that anti-Semitism played out in Medieval Europe, especially as the period went on. This is an illustration of the Third Crusade of Pastoureaux, or Shepherds’ Crusade, which happened in northern France in 1320. Trapped in a burning tower, Jews (identified by badges they were
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Here you are looking at a diagram of the Medieval universe. Or, a giant mystical vulva — your choice.In the Middle Ages, it was common to depict the macro-cosmos as a sort of expanded version of the micro, much like the fresco painted in the late fourteenth century by Piero di Puccio (4th slide), which
The Medieval Universe and Mystical Vulvas Read More »
The Morgan Picture Bible, a.k.a. “The Crusader Bible” is one of the pinnacles of 13th-century French Gothic illumination. Regardless whether it was commissioned by the saint-king Louis IX of France, as many art historians have argued, the 283 gorgeously painted illustrations certainly characterize the zeal of the crusader movement in Europe. In it, artists have
The Morgan Picture Bible Read More »
Look closely, and you’ll see if you squint . . . Not the holy hand grenade, but the Holy Lance! You know — the artifact that in the Christian Gospel of John was used by a Roman soldier to pierce the side of Jesus after he had died on the cross? (John 19:34). A quick
The Holy Lance of the First Crusade Read More »
In the Middle Ages, the lens of Christianity permeated the world view to a degree unimaginable today. We can see this with the descriptions and illustrations of animals like the lion, whom many authors considered king of the beasts. And, since they thought that God/Christ ruled over the universe, lions were compared symbolically to the
