The Green Man (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

The rarest, most recondite and fascinating art book, which is a folklore and magic book as well... An incredibly thorough study, with every example illustrated, of the weird foliate heads or masks found in the medieval churches and cathedrals of Western Europe, with leaves sprouting from them. THE TIMES

Product Description

The foliate head has been used as an ornament in the church since the fourth or fifth century, first as a `borrowed' motif or as an actual relic of antiquity, but gradually modified to suit particular decorative requirements and to express particular ideas. A tradition of meaning was established for it in the early middle ages, but as the fantasy was spun out and expanded in the thirteenth century its possibilities of meaning were explored no less imaginatively than its decorative possibilities. The Green Man carvings of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries have many different shades and slants of meaning: some are demons, and may well refer back to the idea of the Devil as radix omnium malorum, the root of all evil; some probably represent lost souls or spectres of the demon wood. Some are far more complex: the more realistic representation of both the human and the plant elements of the motif permits a deeper exploration of the ambivalent relationship between man and nature, and there are further allusions to man's own frail, fallen and concupiscent nature and to his brief life on earth. The imagery is often ambiguous, and a Green Man who at first glance may seem the very personification of springtime and `summer is i-comen in' may on closer inspection reveal himself as a deadly horror hidden in the leaves.Kathleen Basford's introduction surveys the history and development of the Green Man from prototypes in antique and early medieval ornament to the great period of Gothic architecture when foliate heads are frequent.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: D.S.Brewer (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0859914976
• ISBN-13: 978-0859914970
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #962,880 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking Book for Green Man Enthusiasts, September 20, 2005

By	E. Becker "Cat Herder" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This books holds a reputation as one of the seminal publications in modern Green Man research, and rightly so. There is little copy in the book save a few pages in the beginning outlining the myth as understood at the time of publication, but where it speaks most loudly is in the photographs. Beautiful black and white pictures from all over Europe capture the broad variety of ways that the Green Man has been depicted through the centuries.

Green Man fans must own this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Green Man, February 10, 2008

By	Arkengareth "Sage" (Texas) - See all my reviews

I recently saw green men, on a trip to England, and thought I would learn a little about them and possibly try my hand at chip carving. The Green Man, by Kathleen Basford, was consice, well written, gave history, and many picture plates of dated works. A treasure!