Wild Man
Unknown Artist
late 1400s
Medium
copper alloy
Dimensions
h. 13.4 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund, and James Parmelee Fund
Accession Number
1965.21
About this artwork
Common in medieval art, the wild man is humanlike in appearance with long shaggy hair over his entire body and typically carries a club. Living at the fringe of society in woodland areas, wild men symbolized man in his natural, uncivilized state. Perhaps derived from the part-man part-beast satyr of antiquity, the wild man symbolized lust and aggression in contrast to the spiritual love embodied in medieval chivalry. This bearded version is shown kneeling while raising his right arm holding a cl...