The Green Man

Green Men are faces sprouting foliage that are found in churches, abbeys and cathedrals. They were popular figures adorning church architecture and furnishings in the Middle Ages, and enjoyed a second wave of popularity in the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival. Once thought to be of pagan origin, Green Men were in fact part of the new repertoire of architectural ornament that appeared in Norman churches in the twelfth century, the earliest examples of which were copied from manuscript illustrations. Few of these Green Men are actually men: most are masks, demons or animals, sometimes explicitly associated with the devil. Richard Hayman discusses the origins and definitions of these fascinating and often grotesque carvings, and traces their history in medieval and later churches. He also includes a list of places across Britain where examples of Green Men can be found.

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