Insulting Gestures in the Light of Polish Late­­‑Medieval Written and Iconographic Sources on the Passion of Jesus

Abstract

In the Middle Ages insulting behaviours took various forms. The paper focuses on those ways of insulting which were expressed by gestures, at the same time emphasising that this is a research area that has not yet inspired a separate study. The paper analyses late­­‑medieval apocryphal narratives and iconographic sources. The selection of sources was determined by the presence of the topic of the Passion of Jesus, in which the motif of insult was especially frequent. Due to this biblical motif, the first section of the paper discusses the instances of insulting Christ in the Holy Bible, which constitute a point of reference for a further discussion. It will enable us to point out those gestures which complemented the medieval canonical narrative. In sum, in the text we will find descriptions and interpretations of over 20 insulting behaviours, most of which are also illustrated by appropriate iconography. It has been noted that the gestures presented by the authors of the sources had to be understandable for the people of those times; they therefore had to be drawn from the practice of everyday life, and by that token constitute a testimony of the then ways of insulting.