Barbara Freitag

An air of mystery has surrounded the crude carvings of naked females, called Sheela-na-gigs, since their scholarly discovery some one hundred and sixty years ago. Especially puzzling is the fact that they occur predominantly in medieval religious buildings. High-minded clergymen have since defaced or destroyed many of these carvings, and for a long time archaeologists dismissed them as rude and repulsive.

Only in the less puritanical atmosphere of the last few decades have academics and artists turned their interest to Sheela-na-gigs. Divergent views emerged: some see them as ancient goddesses, some as vestiges of a pagan cult, others as Christian warnings against lust. The author examines all the literature on the subject, highlighting the inconsistencies of the various interpretations in regard to origin, function and name. By considering the sculptures in their medieval social context, she suggests that they were folk deities with particular responsibility for assistance in childbirth.

The survey sheds a completely new light on the controversial phenomenon, and also contains a complete catalogue of all known carvings, including hitherto unrecorded or unpublished figures.