Sacred or Scandalous?: How to Approach Depictions of Genitals in Medieval Art

Miniatures depicting the Wounds of Christ figure in many medieval manuscripts. These fascinating images look weird and alienating, without the body they were inflicted on. They also invoke the feeling we are looking at something scabrous because of their similarity to a vulva. It is uncomfortable: these miniatures depict a sacred matter, the Wounds of Christ. There shouldn’t be an association with something vulgar. Is this strange resemblance maybe a product of a dirty mind. The article attempts to answer the question: How should one approach depictions of the Wounds of Christ in medieval art? Are such depictions sacred, or scandalous?