The Green Man

by Kathleen Basford, Paul Hardwick

Delightful, oft-reprinted guide to the foliate heads so common in medieval sculpture. This was the first-ever monograph dedicated to the Green Man.

The Green Man, the image of the foliate head or the head of a man sprouting leaves, is probably the most common of all motifs in medieval sculpture. Nevertheless, the significance of the image lay largely unregarded until KathleenBasford published this book - the first monograph of the Green Man in any language -and thereby earned the lasting gratitude of scholars in many fields, from art history and folklore to current environmental studies. This book has opened up new avenues of research, not only into medieval man's understanding of nature, and into conceptions of death, rebirth and resurrection in the middle ages, but also into our concern today with ecology and our relationship with the green world. It is therefore a work of living scholarship and its publication in paperback will be greatly and justly welcomed.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Folklore, Religion, Mythology, Medieval

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another update - I look down at the list of times this book has been picked up and read and I just have to smile - there is something about the history and imagery of the Green Man that just fascinates me - and all because I went hunting for another book and stumbled across this one - oh I am so easily distracted!!

Update - as part of a change around with my books this title came to my attention again and I wanted to stop and read it again. The previous comments have not really changed all that much but I do find it fascinating how long it has been since this book was picked up last time

This is an intriguing book. I have always been fascinated with English folklore and the Green Man to me epitomises it. This book really split in to two parts. First charts the history of the Green Man (and some if its incarnations and names) through the centuries, a lot of which I didnt realise or connect to the more popular stories. It also charts the authors fascination and personal journey through the ages and various images it came to represent.
The second half of the book is a series of images taken from the various locations mentioned in the first part illustrating the evolution of the image and is spread across medieval Europe.
The book is a reprint of the 70s edition so in places does appear to be quite dated but if anything it adds to the atmosphere of the book. Even if the folklore aspect holds no interest the images are mesmerising and in some cases disturbing, yet utterly enthralling. It amazes me the age of some of these carvings to be honest. To me it just goes to show that even though we live in a "modern age" our imagination and creativity is nothing new and in fact has been with us all along.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains mostly photographs rather than text. The writing is very good and informative but it doesn't list the photographic plate number as it describes a particular green man. The reader must flip through the pages until the cathedral (or other building) name on the plate and text is matched.

The green man is an architectural motif most abundantly found on Western European cathedrals, grave covers and as column capitals. He was first used in Rome and Istanbul but not as a pagan symbol.

The green man is always sad. I wouldn't be happy either if I had vines growing out of my mouth. Only modern sculptors will carve a smiling green man. If it weren't for the text/plate nuisance I would have rated this book five stars.

[Mesoscope · Rating 4 out of 5]

This impressive book traces the evolution of the Green Man, or the delightful foliate mask motif commonly found adorning medieval churches and monasteries. Basford finds its roots in late antiquity, where it principally occurred as a "male medusa" ornamental mask, sometimes with snakes in its hair as well as vegetative qualities. The comparison to medusa strikes me as particularly apt, remembering Jane Ellen Harrison's interpretation of the medusa as clearly rooted in its origins as an ornamental mask. The salient thing about the medusa is its head, and the salient thing about the head is the face.

Likewise, the Green Man seems to have principally emerged as a captivating ornament that accrued various meanings over time. The key site of its introduction to religious architecture was Trier, where prominent Green Man masks were visible in the cathedral, which broadcast its use as an acceptable Christian ornament from one of the key centers of the faith.

Basford follows its diffusion northward into France, Germany, and England, where it was sometimes ambivalent, but often appeared as a malevolent or even diabolical figure, such as the extremely creepy three-headed ("tricephalic") Green Man on the Toscanella facade. Among its manifold applications, the Green Man has often suggested the dark and untamed powers of nature, along with the transience of life. At times, Green Men seem to be souls in torment, with foliage growing out of their bodies causing agony.

Basford distinguishes between the "Têtes de Feuilles," which are human faces comprised partially or entirely of leaves, and the "Masque Feuillu," which depicts a human face from which leaves or branches issue. The book is copiously illustrated with dozens of photographs of important and representative examples of both.

One significant surprise to me was that Basford forcefully rejects the link between the Green Man and the (much later) May Day folklore figure of "Jack in the Green" and related conceptions of a kind of Pan figure who incarnates the forces of nature. The evidence for such an association is entirely lacking, while what we can determine about how these masks were viewed suggests that the figure was rarely, if ever, venerated, and was exclusively used in religious architecture as a neutral ornamental grotesque, or to depict torment or diabolical powers. We never see any example of it being unambiguously celebrated as a positive sign of the natural cycle.

This book is excellent and extremely useful, and is essential reading for anyone interested in the topic. Unfortunately two conspicuous flaws oblige me to subtract a star from my rating. First, the edition that I purchased has very poor quality reproductions of the photos - they are adequate, but look as though they were printed from a desktop black-and-white printer. I assume this volume is print-on-demand.

Second, the long introductory essay references dozens of photographs, but never references the figure numbers, which obliges the reader to leaf through the photo catalog again and again to find the appropriate illustration. It is extremely vexing, and could have so easily been avoided by parenthetic references.

[Adelais · Rating 5 out of 5]

Коротенька монографія з купою ілюстрацій про так званого зеленого чоловіка/зелену людину - зображення обличчя, оповитого листям чи квітами, яке часто виринало на соборах у середньовіччі. Коріння цього зображення, вибачте за каламбур, авторка прослідковує трохи в кельтську символіку, а далі вже всі потихеньку пробіглися.
Засвідчу, що вживу ці голови виглядають дуже круто, навіть з дрібними няшними квіточками а чи й капустяним листям.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating exploration of the use of the "Green Man," a demon creature defined by the leaves that sometimes appear coming out of its mouth and other times making up it's entire face which was often used in medieval and sometimes reformation era architecture. This book does not so much try to understand the mythos of the Green Man, but instead tries to follow his appearance in European architecture occasionally imparting some explanations as to why it appeared there in the first place.

This book will probably serve art historians more than folklorists, but it was an intriguing read nonetheless.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for the breadth of information and numerous photos. An excellent resource. Minus 1 star for the layout. I so wanted to cut the book apart and reassemble it with the plate numbers in the text and the information about the pictures in the picture captions.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably more of a more visual representation of the Green Man symbol that has been found carved in churches and cathedrals from as far back as the 5th century.

There is a small chapter at the start of the book describing the possible history of the Green Man, but the truth being, no one really knows what it represents, could be malevolent, could be devilish, could be a spirit of nature. Whatever the Green Man represents, the figure pops up everywhere in European history.

An interesting book with high quality black and white photos of the many Green Men out there.

[D Taberner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an academic overview of the figure and how it has evolved over the centuries. Again, more to do with the figure itself and not with what the Green Man has symbolized to people in various times. When the author does touch on this, there isn't nearly enough evidence or elaboration to support their assertions. It's still worth a look as long as you know what you're getting into!

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The foliage head or mask - it's also called 'the Green Man' - has been a part of architecture and sculpture for literally hundreds of years. The most common pieces show a man with a bifurcated vine emitted from his mouth with leaves encircling his head and lower face. Others have leaves from eyebrows, the sides to beneath the nose and from the lower lip, covering the chin like a goatee beard. Most leaves are acanthus but oak is also common as well. There are examples of even other plants - ivy, maple, apple, hawthorn, hops, buttercup, and byrony. Some oak leaves have oak galls on them while other examples have birds among the leaves plucking berries.

The book itself - although 128 pages - is mostly pictures of various examples of foliage masks over the centuries - mostly England, France and Germany - with only 23 pages of text. The author also includes a few stained glass windows with foliage heads along with illuminated pages from medieval psalters.

The only negative that I can possibly find is it would have been nice for the author to note the plate/photo when she was describing a specific piece. Thankfully, she included an index of places that cross-referenced the plates.

2020-216

[Yasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The actual writing on the Green Man is very short, just over 20 pages and most of the rest of the book is black and white picture plates. A nice little book over all, but very thin as well.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

All that is known about the foliate head/green man/robin hood/jack in the green is that it is a symbol of fecundity whose female counterpart is Queen of the May/Maid Marion. Almost always it is a scary face looming out from behind the foliage, denoting nature as a powerful force and dating back to the Romans, first century AD. It has oft been described as the male medusa.

Lots of photos here.

[Velvetink]

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