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These Czech Students Recreate Scenes From Medieval Books, And They’re Hilariously Strange (15 Pics)
Those of us who went to college can remember the amazingly fun times we had with our coursemates. However, I doubt that, in our spare time, any of us did anything as weird as one band of students from the Czech Republic.
A group of Czech students has the weirdest understanding of leisure we’ve seen so far. They decided to recreate weird and bizarre scenes found in illustrations from medieval books. And we know how strangely artists from the Middle Ages saw the world around them.
So scroll down, upvote your favorite recreated scenes from Medieval paintings, and remember to share with your friends (they’ll have a hearty laugh, we promise). Oh, and do let us know in the comments below which of these hilarious photos you like best and why. Scroll down to read Bored Panda's interview with Dr. Catherine Harding from the University of Victoria and Professor Claire LaBrecque from the University of Winnipeg. When you’re done with this list and if you still need your dose of medieval art weirdness, take a look at Bored Panda’s list about how ugly cats in paintings from the Middle Ages are.
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#1
varwenea 6 years ago
Impressive flexibility. Now, if she can grab her ankles, that would be circus level of flexibility.
TheExtremeSmell 6 years ago
I can grab my ankles. But only leaning forward.
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Jasmin Turk 6 years ago
Original picture: Hi try to cach the lovest G ! Students pic: she lost her earring.
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#2
Harold Summer 6 years ago
Gotta admire the medieval-style bed. It illustrates the saying "sleep tight" because loose supporting ropes might not hold the third person bringing toys and hoping to join in the fun.
Val/Malibu/Dante/Bob 6 years ago (edited)
Bro how close are these friends that they'd get butt naked and act as if they are f***k fracking lol
#3
chi-wei shen 6 years ago
I've found the original picture without this black square and I think this way of censoring is way over the top. The wooden stick covers everything what could be NSFW.
The Czech students obviously have a good sense of humor, and plenty of courage and flexibility, too, because they’re not afraid to recreate some of the more difficult medieval painting styles that would make anyone’s eyebrows shoot up into their hairline. But why does art from the Middle Ages look as though it belongs in Wonderland, along with Alice and the White Rabbit?
#4
AnnieLaurie Burke 6 years ago
Dog: "OMG, the hoomins are weird! How did I ever get mixed up with this bunch?"
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MCathenaE 6 years ago
The large dog adds to the hilarity for me. & the look on its face!
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#5
#6
M O'Connell 6 years ago
I think that instrument is a member of the Lyra family (basically a lute you play with a bow), and not really a violin. Lyras are generally played in the lap or against the chest.
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Jasmin Turk 6 years ago
Original picture: Blue man trying to escape Students pic: it has also adventage to bee deth..
Jasmin Turk 6 years ago
Original picture: I would like to escape,if I would be able to get up...
Wordfloe-Acid-Test 6 years ago
I wonder if they drew like that because they had no concept of how to draw with perspective. Or maybe it didn't matter.
Biopithecus 6 years ago
King with trusted bodyguards - ninja bow-lady who uses violins as arrows and blow dart guy.
Some believe that all the peculiar drawings in books were the result of monks who got bored and spent their time doodling. Monks were the ones who usually illustrated books in the Middle Ages, and their work was very meticulous, requiring superhuman amounts of patience. So it’s no wonder that a few novices decided to let their imaginations run wild on a few pages.
#7
Iris Engler 6 years ago
Probably her: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godelieve
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Mirka Peewit 6 years ago
It's Ludmila of Bohemia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludmila_of_Bohemia
Iris Engler 6 years ago
Thanks for correction. Both saints were unknown to me. Seems strangling was a prefered way to kill saints
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#8
Biopithecus 6 years ago
Gender equality in medieval times - lady mechanic fixing chubby hubby's tent.
Carol Roeder 6 years ago
Hate to tell the students, but those are two guys in the picture, not a woman and a guy.
#9
George Digamma 6 years ago
i think that the meaning of the original is ''When people overdrink, they behave like monkeys''
Jane Alexander 6 years ago (edited)
Wish I could find the poem that deals with the 'descended from' thing from the monkeys point of view; -monkeys don't drink, abandon their mate and young. etc, and the last lines are; "Yes, man descended, the ornery cuss, but heavens, he didn't descend from us". Anyone have a copy or know where I can find it?
Michael Wade 6 years ago (edited)
Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree, Discussing things as they are said to be Said one to the others, "Now listen, you two, There’s a certain rumor that can’t be true, That man descended from our noble race, The very idea is a great disgrace! “No monkey has ever deserted his wife, Starved her babies, and ruined her life. And you’ve never known a mother monk, To leave her babies with others to bunk, Or pass them on from one to the other , Till they scarcely know who is their mother. “And another thing you'll never see, A monk build a fence 'round a coconut tree, And let the coconuts go to waste, Forbidding all other monks to taste. Why, if I put a fence around this tree, Starvation would force you to steal from me. “Here’s another thing a monkey won’t do - Go out at night and get in a stew, Or use a gun or club or knife To take some other monkey’s life. Yes, man descended, the ornery cuss, But brother, he didn’t descend from us!”
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One trend often seen in Medieval art style is just how often you come across illustrations of rabbits attacking people. Listverse writes that monks probably found the idea that rabbits were the ones hunting their hunters to be hilarious.
#10
Lenka Smetanová 6 years ago
now... when he's going to swing, just move your head, and he will cut his own hand :D :D
#11
Devan Swan 6 years ago
A white sailor hat would have looked better. She looks like she sustained some kind of head injury that needed bandages. That's her "therapy" goat.
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#12
There are also plenty of drawings of cats licking their butts, and knights fighting snails. Just History Posts suggests that there are plenty of theories as to why there is an absurd number of snails in ancient art. One theory is that snails represent death and the Resurrection, while another is that they mock the Lombards who used to rule most of what is now known as Italy. Whatever the true purpose of such drawings, the fact is that they are highly amusing, and we would love it if more people recreated scenes from Medieval art.
#13
Dr. Catherine Harding from the University of Victoria talked to Bored Panda about peculiar medieval illustrations and the monks who made them. “There is a lovely book by a now-deceased scholar, Michael Camille. He called these images ‘images on the edge’. In some manuscripts, the images might fit with the text above and be very playful in terms of how pictures and words come together. In other manuscripts, they do appear to be playful and so medieval pages, even sacred pages, were a blend of serious and playful expression. I don’t think they [the monks] were bored. Actually, medieval scribes and artists enjoyed creating rich, deep networks of meaning for medieval audiences to work at, a little like mental puzzles for the mind. Medieval readers loved to parse out what the page might mean. And we are still probing the meaning centuries later!”
#14
Sue Clifford 6 years ago
That’s why their cloths are so long, just in case.
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According to Dr. Harding, it’s difficult to know how long each drawing would take monks to illustrate because everything depended on the length of the text, the size of the book, and whether the drawings were “simple pen-and-wash illustrations” or “deluxe books” that contained “lots of gold and precious pigments.”
“They [the monks] probably could flip out a simple wash illustration in minutes. And sometimes we have books in which the artists were given a huge project to illustrate and they got part way in and the monies dried up so the book is only half-illustrated.”
“We have all these stereotyped ideas about how religious medieval people were. But the research shows over and over again how creative, playful and resilient they were,” Dr. Harding told Bored Panda. “There is strong evidence for people who thought outside of the box as in the case of a medieval heretic, who created their own mental world that runs counter to the culture. I love their mental agility and their passion for questioning. They made medieval Christianity over and over again in so many ways. That is the creative part.”
Meanwhile, Professor Claire LaBrecque from the University of Winnipeg seconded Dr. Harding’s thoughts: “I think we are living in a world that is strange, but not stranger than it was in the medieval times. It was just different, and unexpected, and super creative.”
#15
Dear pandas, if you know who these students are or know how to get in touch with them, please let us know!
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What do you think ?
spirit wolf 6 years ago
Fantastic! More please, there are some more very questionable art to be tackled.
spirit wolf 6 years ago
Fantastic! More please, there are some more very questionable art to be tackled.
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