Uncourteous badge, Netherlands, 1375-1425.
Depicts a man wearing a hat, carrying a basket and showing his naked buttocks and genitals. It mostly imitates obscene motifs that might have been found on Romanesque cathedrals.
Medieval parody was part of carnival culture - the world was turned upside down, everything changed its place, the low and obscene came to the fore. Scholars see the origins of these motifs in fertility rituals. "Exhibitionist" images also appear in church architecture (especially in the 12th century). Most often, these scenes were carved on column capitals high above the heads of the faithful.
The "exhibitionist" figures on the capitals are often twisted into incredible knots that physically bring the "top and bottom" of the body closer together. The exact meaning of these mockingly aggressive gestures has long been lost. It is clear that they are related to mockery and obscenity.
It is worth recalling both the amuletic function of the genitals depicted and the mocking display of ass to the enemy (as illustrated, for example, in Braveheart with Mel Gibson, when the Scots turn their backs on the English and raise their kilts). Such 'riotous' themes were also related to the continuation of lineage, life force, fertility and prosperity, and bear the obvious imprint of the typical carnivalesque image of 'the world turned upside down'. Moreover, there was a belief that the devil was afraid of exposed buttocks and genitals.
Brass. Dimensions: 45 × 35 mm.
- Made in Ukraine by Armour and Castings
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