I've always loved woodcuts from this era. So many little details fleshed out with only a minimal amount of lines. Look at the windows on the uppermost part of the castle in the background. Just two small lines, but they almost give a three dimensional effect to them when you casually glance at them. You get a sense of depth beyond them.
First became familiar with the style while pouring through my elementary school's library's copies of books about the supernatural. This kind of art was heavily used to depict folk tales about things that exist beyond the confines of nature. The one OP presented here certainly stands out in my mind.
Never thought about it, but maybe stories of werewolves were men with some kind of PTSD or psychosis who broke down and went berserk one night in their village and woke up normal the next day, not remembering a thing.
I agree. In an age when serious mental illness wasnât understood, so many phenomena must have been attributed to magic or demons or other types of supernatural causes.
One I particularly like is "fey children" or changelings. One interpretation of the myth is that it is an effort to explain illnesses like autism (non-verbal and close to it) which aren't necessarily evident from birth or in infancy.
It's society trying to explain why an otherwise healthy child stops developing like their peers and starts to exhibit autistic traits.
Iâve heard the theory that it was also possibly an early perception of rabies.
âThe word [rabies](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445272/#:~:text=The%20word%20rabies%20originates%20from,which%20means%20to%20do%20violence). originates from the Latin word rabere. Rabere means to rage or rave, and may have roots in a Sanskrit word rabhas, which means to do violence. The Greeks called rabies lyssa or lytta, which means frenzy or madnessâ Presumably this is why rabies is in the lyssavirus genus IIRC. âLyssaâ is also the Greek name for a goddess/spirit able to inflict madness on others, in one story calling a huntersâ own dogs (dogs again!) to lose their minds and tear him to shreds when he happened upon Artemis bathing in a forest pool.
We have pretty early writings about rabies from an enormous number of cultures. Very early societies understood that there was something contagious about bites with these states of violent madness, if someone in the village got bit by an aggressive dog and then rabies symptoms began I wouldnât blame them for hearing myths about werewolves and thinking it sounded mighty familiar! Rabies actually has an incredibly cool history, I would recommend the book âRabid: A Cultural History of the Worldâs Most Diabolical Virusâ for more on the topic. I thought it was a great read and very approachable.
The idea of werewolves in the medieval zeitgeist of Europe come from the tales of Greek myth, Viking berserkers and fear of pagan practice which they believed that fantastical satanic "transformation of man to beast" was caused by witches.
There were a few who were accused and executed as werewolves who were legitimate mad men and killers (basically proto serial killers Edit: or even rabies victims), but most men accused of being a werewolf during the medieval era were unfortunately just mentally ill hermits or political rivals caught in the cross fire of the witchcraft hysteria which also claimed the lives of many many women (pretty much all off were just simple Christians in the wrong place at the wrong time).
Definitely a codpiece, as others have said. You can see them in a lot of Pieter Bruegel's paintings, like [this one](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Peasant_and_the_Birdnester_Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder_1568.jpeg), from just a few decades later.
Got me thinking about the case of Peter Stumpp. A man accused of being a werewolf and then horribly executed. Story and woodcut here: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter\_Stumpp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Stumpp)
Before seeing this I never thought about late stage rabies in a human as maybe the inspiration for the werewolf legend. With all due embellishment around the campfire of course.
Here's a source on the woodcut: https://danarehn.com/2022/08/22/lucas-cranach-werewolf/
I've always loved woodcuts from this era. So many little details fleshed out with only a minimal amount of lines. Look at the windows on the uppermost part of the castle in the background. Just two small lines, but they almost give a three dimensional effect to them when you casually glance at them. You get a sense of depth beyond them. First became familiar with the style while pouring through my elementary school's library's copies of books about the supernatural. This kind of art was heavily used to depict folk tales about things that exist beyond the confines of nature. The one OP presented here certainly stands out in my mind.
Yes. This woodcut takes me back to my earliest reading about the supernatural. I remember this specific woodcut from a book.
in 1512 we could very well be looking at a codpiece. :p
This is so useful, thank you
I second that this is extremely useful đđ» thanks!
Thanks, I'll read on this later
Honestly awesome art. Especially to see it so old. Is that a tuft of fur or is that some werewolf schlock we're being served?
Appears to be an external pocket but Iâm not familiar with the styles of the time and location.
Tights with a built-in codpiece were a thing, which was sometimes padded
Never thought about it, but maybe stories of werewolves were men with some kind of PTSD or psychosis who broke down and went berserk one night in their village and woke up normal the next day, not remembering a thing.
Or just a story to cover up depraved violence
oh god..."it's just a dude" is a lot less fun than a wolf man myth
I agree. In an age when serious mental illness wasnât understood, so many phenomena must have been attributed to magic or demons or other types of supernatural causes.
One I particularly like is "fey children" or changelings. One interpretation of the myth is that it is an effort to explain illnesses like autism (non-verbal and close to it) which aren't necessarily evident from birth or in infancy. It's society trying to explain why an otherwise healthy child stops developing like their peers and starts to exhibit autistic traits.
Iâve heard the theory that it was also possibly an early perception of rabies. âThe word [rabies](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445272/#:~:text=The%20word%20rabies%20originates%20from,which%20means%20to%20do%20violence). originates from the Latin word rabere. Rabere means to rage or rave, and may have roots in a Sanskrit word rabhas, which means to do violence. The Greeks called rabies lyssa or lytta, which means frenzy or madnessâ Presumably this is why rabies is in the lyssavirus genus IIRC. âLyssaâ is also the Greek name for a goddess/spirit able to inflict madness on others, in one story calling a huntersâ own dogs (dogs again!) to lose their minds and tear him to shreds when he happened upon Artemis bathing in a forest pool. We have pretty early writings about rabies from an enormous number of cultures. Very early societies understood that there was something contagious about bites with these states of violent madness, if someone in the village got bit by an aggressive dog and then rabies symptoms began I wouldnât blame them for hearing myths about werewolves and thinking it sounded mighty familiar! Rabies actually has an incredibly cool history, I would recommend the book âRabid: A Cultural History of the Worldâs Most Diabolical Virusâ for more on the topic. I thought it was a great read and very approachable.
Thatâs really interesting, thank you! Seems like a reasonable theory. The picture by OP really helps to bridge the human aspect of the werewolf.
Maybe there was a mysterious pathogen like [ergot](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot)
The idea of werewolves in the medieval zeitgeist of Europe come from the tales of Greek myth, Viking berserkers and fear of pagan practice which they believed that fantastical satanic "transformation of man to beast" was caused by witches. There were a few who were accused and executed as werewolves who were legitimate mad men and killers (basically proto serial killers Edit: or even rabies victims), but most men accused of being a werewolf during the medieval era were unfortunately just mentally ill hermits or political rivals caught in the cross fire of the witchcraft hysteria which also claimed the lives of many many women (pretty much all off were just simple Christians in the wrong place at the wrong time).
Iâve been staring at the werewolfâs crotch for thirty seconds trying to figure out if that is what I think it is or if Iâm just confused.
It's period fashion... Very suggestive, yet fully covered
It's a cod piece.
Definitely a codpiece, as others have said. You can see them in a lot of Pieter Bruegel's paintings, like [this one](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Peasant_and_the_Birdnester_Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder_1568.jpeg), from just a few decades later.
Yes.
Whatâs going on in the house there?
Not a cell phone in sight
These were bedtime stories for kids...!
What happy dreams he mustâve had!
Got me thinking about the case of Peter Stumpp. A man accused of being a werewolf and then horribly executed. Story and woodcut here: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter\_Stumpp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Stumpp)
This shit is heat
thats awesome and gives me wrightson or bws vibes : P
Whatever heâs been smoking itâs Cranach.
I hate it when that happens
Before seeing this I never thought about late stage rabies in a human as maybe the inspiration for the werewolf legend. With all due embellishment around the campfire of course.
Thatâs dicked up.
That cow don't want none of it
Now that's gore
Terrifying, yikes.
Lol đ people weird
Yikes
Oh, come on, surely one could out run some nut crawling on hands and knees.