Belly face
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"Gastrocephalic demons are a persistent motif in medieval art, with faces represented in their stomachs or even pudenda: this iconography implies the loss of control by right reason, and the usurpation of the passions, and it would be difficult to imagine a more effective means of conveying that meaning in purely visual terms." -- Milton's Imagery and the Visual Arts (1978) by Roland Mushat Frye |
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The belly face (also gastrocephalic creature) is a motif in Christian iconography, often found in doom paintings depicting devils and demons.
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Origin
These representations are not originally from the Christian literature, but come under foreign cultural influences, such as Indian mythology and Chinese mythology (Xing Tian).
Examples
Depictions of belly faces can be found in the archivolts of the Chartres Cathedral (13th century). The right hand panel of the Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation [1] has a gastrocephalic creature. The Missal of Poitiers features an illumination of two demonic figures, each of these demons is gastrocephalic.
In modern art, there is the example of The Rape by Magritte, who subverted the theme by giving female primary and secondary sex characteristics to a face.
In contemporary art, there is the Two Bodyheads by Paul Rumsey.
Instances
- Stone carving from the Chartres Cathedral [2]
Bibliography
- German Wikipedia page Bauchgesicht, of which this is a translation.
- Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie Begr. von Engelbert Kirschbaum. Hrsg. von Wolfgang Braunfels. 8 Bde. Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau u.a. 1968-1976. Bd. 2, Sp. 140f. ISBN 3-451-22568-9
- Jurgis Baltrusaitis: Das phantastische Mittelalter. Antike und exotische Elemente der Kunst der Gotik, Frankfurt 1985 (Erstausgabe: Le Moyen Âge fantastique, Paris 1955)
- E. Castelli: Il demoniaco nell'arte, Mailand/Florenz 1952
- Howard Daniel: Devils, monsters and nightmares. An introduction to the grotesque and fantastic in art, New York 1964
- Oswald A. Erich: Die Darstellung des Teufels in der christlichen Kunst, Berlin 1931
- Wolfgang Menzel: Christliche Symbolik, Regensburg 1854
See also
- Speaking genitals
- Baubo (some types)
- Headless men
- Osculum infame
- Doom painting
- Gryllus