Our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the finest specimens of peculiar medieval art from every nook and cranny on the internet. We’ve found some of the strangest renditions of real animals and mythical creatures to confuse and amuse you, Pandas, so scroll down to check them out.
#1 My Favorite Picture I Took At The Louvre. I Call It "Freaked Out Lion Is Getting His Nails Done"
#2 A Dog Riding A Bunny Spear-Fighting A Bunny Who Is Riding A Snail With The Head Of Rick Rubin
The medieval era started in the 5th Century with the collapse of Roman civilization, lasting all the way to the Renaissance. When exactly the Middle Ages ended varies depending on what historian you talk to.
The Encyclopædia Britannica notes that some researchers see the Renaissance period starting in the 13th century, while others argue that it began in the 14th or even 15th centuries.
#4 If The Bear Is Brown, Lay Down. If It's Black, Fight Back. If It's White, Goodnight. And If It's Medieval, Climb The Smallest Tree Available, Totally Naked
Broadly speaking, the things that defined the end of the Middle Ages included the breakup of feudal structures, the rise of secular education, the strengthening of city-states in Italy, as well as the rise of national monarchies in England, France, and Spain. The Renaissance looked all the way back to the Classical age for inspiration.
One of the most widely known social media projects that features wonky medieval illustrations is ‘Weird Medieval Guys’ (@WeirdMedieval), a fantastic account on X (formerly Twitter) that shares peculiar-looking medieval illustrations. The project has gotten so popular over the years that there’s even a podcast and a book out.
The person behind the ingenious ‘Weird Medieval Guys’ account is Olivia M. Swarthout (@tochterzwiebel). She started the project back in 2019. In the 5 years since its inception, the account has grown by leaps and bounds.
In mid-2022, it boasted just shy of 100k followers on X (still Twitter back then). However, now, in 2024, a jaw-dropping 678k people from all around the world now follow it on the social network.
As word about the ‘Weird Medieval Guys’ internet sensation spread, the creator started a podcast by the same name together with Aran, a historian.
The founder of the project, Olivia, even published a book in late 2023, titled ‘Weird Medieval Guys: How to Live, Laugh, Love (and Die) in Dark Times.’
Olivia, who created ‘Weird Medieval Guys’ half a decade ago, previously told Bored Panda all about the project and the inspiration behind it. She shared that she did some graphic design for a magazine at her university. In one issue, she used a lot of medieval imagery.
“I spent a lot of time online looking for images from medieval manuscripts to incorporate into the project, and I was amazed at the works that I found. Not just the art itself, but also the extent to which these priceless, one-of-a-kind manuscripts and documents have been digitized and cataloged online for anyone across the world to browse,” she told us during an earlier interview.
Olivia explained that accessing these sorts of medieval works of art from centuries ago is easy these days. In the past, however, it would have been incredibly difficult to do. She wanted to share some of the enjoyment she felt with everyone else.
“Because I found so many pieces that I thought were extremely funny and endearing and could only send so many of them to my friends before they got sick of me, I also liked the idea that I could connect with other people online about how cool the art is,” she said.
#20 Love Depictions Of Lions From Countries That Clearly Don't Have Lions
