Les Belles Flagellantes
I love the way this series is displayed - it has a real sense of movement to it, with the photos leaping from one part of the scene to the next.
Also, I had no idea that St Andrew's Crosses had been used as dungeon furniture since the 19th century! That actually increases their appeal :)
These images are, for some reason, reminding me of the ones in a museum I once saw in Finland... I can't quite tell as the hairstyles make them look rather unified, but do the spanker and the spankee swap roles?
ReplyDeletePandora: St. Andrews Cross has been used in flagellant recreations for much longer than that. The Rennaissance at least, if not earlier: in both official/judicial and private contexts. It is, after all, rather an obvious shape if one wants access to the entire back, buttocks and legs (and has a very large house).
ReplyDeleteI love vintage snaps, they let me know it's in the genes somewhere, meaning I just can't help myself ;-)
ReplyDeleteLiz - I don't think they do switch, but I find the anonymity produced by the hairstyles extremely interesting. The girls are nude and interchangeable, so even though we're watching a scene in which one has power over the other, both of them are objectified to the viewer.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember seeing any spanking photos when I was in Finland - I'd surely have remembered! The picture is taken from the collection of a German called Uwe Scheid.
Mr C. - I'm not sure why I'm surprised, realy. Are there early woodcuts and things, or just literary evidence? I am fascinated :)
Autumn - absolutely! We aren't freakish and unusual - people have been doing this for centuries :)