Here be monsters

This is a selection of medieval sculpture depicting fantastic creatures, gargoyles and beasts from the crusader Baltic region. They were carved to adorn crusader churches constructed by the Tetutonic knights in Prussia (modern Poland) after it was conquered by them in the 13^th C. In the period of the crusades, south-eastern Baltic was considered a frontier of the western world. Inhabited by pagan Balts worshipping forces of nature and ancient oaks, it was poorly known to the crusaders and thus, created a fitting environment for depictions of fantastic monsters. This distant region may have been home to chimeras and hybrids between animals and men or the foul race of intelligent dogs which frequently feature in decorations of medieval manuscripts. It is unlikely however whether anyone believed in the existence of such creatures, their depictions probably had purely decorative role or at best, some may have served as representations of sin and its temptation (particularly the race of human dogs).

The art of medieval Baltic is poorly known to the wider public and gargoyles are often associated with France or other regions of Western Europe. Unnatural monsters and beasts however, were rather the domain of the frontiers of the Christian world, not its core. With this selection, I wanted to try something new and show some of the creatures which inhabited the imagination of people there. Most of the figures come from the Teutonic castle in Malbork (modern Poland) and date from the 13^th C. (except two which are a century later). The bottom row of creatures dates from the 1^st half of the 14^th C. and come from the Cistercian nunnery in Chelmno (also modern Poland). This may be an over interpretation but some art historians suggest that the exposed male genitalia and vulgar positions of the human dog figures to the left may have had some sexual connotation for the nuns who viewed them whenever they visited the church, whether you believe this is up to you. I really enjoy such collections of images with certain themes but I am not sure if people in general find them interesting as there seem to be few of them online. Let me know what you think!