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Medieval art occupies a special corner of art history, not just because of its religious weight or historical importance, but because it is, quite frankly, gloriously weird. From knights squaring up against giant snails to phallus trees and women with questionable anatomy, medieval paintings, manuscripts and churchs reveal a world where the bizarre wasn’t an exception, it was practically a design principle. It’s no wonder we find it so unexpectedly entertaining.
Let’s travel back to the Middle Ages and take a look at some of the grotesque beasts, macabre scenes and babies who look like middle aged accountants.
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0:00 Introduction
3:00 The Illusion of Time?
4:35 Manslaying Molluscs
6:35 Homicidal Bunnies
8:16 If You’ve Got It, Faunt It
9:14 Bottoms Up
11:47 Strange Fruit
13:42 Masters of the Weird
Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by Jamit Productions
Thank you for watching!
SOURCES:
Binswanger, J. (Nov 2023) Why is Medieval Art So Weird? Smithsonian Magazine Online.
Camille, M. (1992) Image on the edge: the margins of medieval art, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Hansen, H. (23/02/2012) Was medieval manuscript marginalia pure distraction? UCL
McDonald, N. (2006) Medieval Obscenities, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, Martlesham, England.
MS. B. 11. 22., The James Catalogue of Western Manuscripts, Trinity College, Cambridge.
Mucha, M.A. (Apr 2025) the Bizarre World of Medieval Art: Weird Themes, Art a Bloom Website.
PIXOMNI, 12 Weird medieval Art Pieces That Will Blow Your Mind, Pixomni Website.
Rudolph, C. (2019) A Companion to medieval art: Romanesque & Gothic in Northern Europe, Wiley Blackwell, Hoboken, N.J.
Semynina, A. (Feb 2023) Explaining Weird Medieval Art, Artist Close Up Website.
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