Lust and Vice: On the Cult of the Body in the Middle Ages – Culture

In the pleasure garden

Erotic motifs can be found in many pictorial representations. It's funny, but it's also rough. The Christian moral club often resonates: Vanity was considered a vice, and lust a mortal sin. Enjoyment at the pleasure park is often followed by jellyfish.

The order was negotiated in several different ways. The attractive body looked impressive even in the Middle Ages. Nobles had better cards to deal with wigs, powders, and perfumes, while farmers and artisans struggled with lice combs.

But what they have in common is the joy of cleaning in the bathtub and socializing in the public bathroom. However, it lost its reputation in the 13th century as a syphilis hotspot.

legend:

At the medieval resort, young and old enjoy and socialize over food, drink and music. It sounds great, but: Ah, bacteria! People soon contracted a sexually transmitted disease here. Bad zu Lock (?), Hans Bock the Elder, ca. 1597.

Art Museum Basel

The monks had advice when it came to serious illnesses. They translated medical knowledge from the Arab region into Latin and transferred the knowledge to other monasteries.

The patients were then treated with herbal extracts and under a good star. Bloodletting and cupping ensure the balance of the body's humors. However, all this hardly helped in cases of plague, typhus, or difficult childbirth: women usually did not live until their fortieth birthday.

Mysterious miracle peoples

As the exhibition impressively shows, ideas about corporeality in the Middle Ages went beyond the individual body. Entire peoples were imagined as different creatures.

legend:

Astrology is a huge trend again today. Even in the Middle Ages it was believed that human well-being lies under the influence of the stars. Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1410–1485.

Cliché RMN / Bibliothèque et Archives du Château de Chantilly

These peoples sometimes had large feet that protected them from the rain, and other times long ears that provided shade in the desert: the so-called “miracle peoples” not only inspired the imagination, but were present on maps of the world in the 12th century, according to exhibition curator Christine Keller: They sent commercial travelers and pilgrims to look for these people. But of course no one came back with reports from these people.”

Whether imagined, desired or tortured: the exhibition at the State Museum succeeds in providing a diverse and surprisingly light-hearted presentation of how medieval people viewed the body.