Regarding the art style, I can explain.
Imagine, 700 years from now, archeologists find anime drawings with no context. Of course, their first thought is probably gonna be "wtf, after the Renaissance happened, art took a sharp decline, I mean haven't they seen any human before? What's with these big ass eyes on big ass heads, tiny noses, tiny mouths?"
In the Middle Ages, it was kind of the same concept : they created a style, totally on purpose, because they didn't want to show reality as they saw it, but rather reality as they knew it. Big difference! Everything had to be a symbol, but they didn't give a fuck about prettiness/"realism" as we know it. Hence the neutral faces (during the first part of the era that is), stiff bodies, f'd up sizes (important guy is taller than everyone else, a wise baby is shown as a tiny old guy...) It was all about hidden meanings!
As for the weird shit you can find in manuscripts, it was just their tumblr at the time : monks were bored to death copying
shit 8 hours a day, so they started drawing stuff. Either things that illustrated the text, or cute vegetals ornaments, or whatever crossed their minds. Because there was no taboo except when it came to sins. You could find "normal" things like a guy with his dick out warming up in front of a fire, or less conventional stuff... Imagination was running wild, everything was possible.
(a popular game amongst kids at the time consisted in catching a kid and farting on him... and this wasn't particularly frowned upon). In fact, they liked poop/fart jokes, and other jokes seen today as "immature". In the cathedral in my town for instance, they sculpted a guy with a bird up his ass!
Glad to hear that @mialinay! Lovely pic too!
@snowbeast : It's in Quimper, France. If you want to have a look, I have a pic of bird ass guy somewhere, I'll upload it tomorrow if I don't forget!
Imagine, 700 years from now, archeologists find anime drawings with no context. Of course, their first thought is probably gonna be "wtf, after the Renaissance happened, art took a sharp decline, I mean haven't they seen any human before? What's with these big ass eyes on big ass heads, tiny noses, tiny mouths?"
In the Middle Ages, it was kind of the same concept : they created a style, totally on purpose, because they didn't want to show reality as they saw it, but rather reality as they knew it. Big difference! Everything had to be a symbol, but they didn't give a fuck about prettiness/"realism" as we know it. Hence the neutral faces (during the first part of the era that is), stiff bodies, f'd up sizes (important guy is taller than everyone else, a wise baby is shown as a tiny old guy...) It was all about hidden meanings!
As for the weird shit you can find in manuscripts, it was just their tumblr at the time : monks were bored to death copying
(a popular game amongst kids at the time consisted in catching a kid and farting on him... and this wasn't particularly frowned upon). In fact, they liked poop/fart jokes, and other jokes seen today as "immature". In the cathedral in my town for instance, they sculpted a guy with a bird up his ass!
Also, a few hours from where I live, this statue of Konrad von Hochstaden can be found if you're interested, @snowbeast
https://m.kn-online.de/var/storage/images/rnd/nachrichten/panorama/uebersicht/diese-obszoene-rathaus-figur-erregt-das-internet/717115063-3-ger-DE/Diese-obszoene-Rathaus-Figur-erregt-die-Internet-Nutzer_reference_4_3.jpg
@snowbeast : It's in Quimper, France. If you want to have a look, I have a pic of bird ass guy somewhere, I'll upload it tomorrow if I don't forget!