Medieval art is a treasure trove of weird trends that make you wonder what medieval minds were really thinking. From bizarre animal antics to odd theological mishaps, the period from AD 1000 to 1500 produced a parade of illustrations that still raise eyebrows today.

Weird Trends in Medieval Art

10 Murderous Rabbits

Monks tasked with creating illuminated manuscripts filled their holy books with gorgeous foliage, intricate lettering, and—occasionally—rabbits swinging clubs at unsuspecting humans. These murderous bunnies appear in countless margins, charging knights, hacking women, and even wielding axes, all with no connection to the surrounding text.

The prevailing theory is that bored monks doodled these scenes for a laugh, imagining a rabbit uprising against its hunters. One monk scolded his peers for the waste of ink, writing, “Good Lord, even if the foolishness of it all occasions no shame, at least one might balk at the expense.”

9 Cats Licking Their Butts

Long before the internet, medieval artists were already obsessed with feline anatomy—specifically, the moment a cat bends over to lick its own posterior. Sketches range from realistic depictions to contorted circles ensuring the tongue reaches the target.

These cat‑butt illustrations even made their way into religious scenes. One monk added a bored cat licking its rear to a depiction of Christ’s resurrection, proving that even sacred moments weren’t safe from this quirky fascination.

8 Women Riding Aristotle Like A Pony

For a brief spell bridging the medieval period and the early Renaissance, artists loved drawing the philosopher Aristotle on his knees while a woman rode him like a horse. Some images add a bridle, a whip, or even a full‑body nude, turning the scene into a rather explicit tableau.

The motif stems from a medieval story about Alexander the Great’s wife tricking Aristotle into a humiliating ride. Teachers used the tale to warn against female seduction, illustrating the moral that lustful impulses must be resisted.

7 Knights Fighting Snails

One of the most puzzling marginal doodles shows armored knights charging heroic battles against slow‑moving snails. Scholars have proposed allegorical readings—social struggle, mortality, discrimination—but the simplest explanation may be sheer boredom.

When monks spent endless hours copying texts, they apparently let their imaginations run wild, turning the battlefield into a surreal snail‑vs‑knight showdown.

6 Moses With Horns On His Head

For centuries, artists rendered Moses with literal horns sprouting from his scalp—a detail that seems demonic at first glance. The confusion stems from the Hebrew word keren, which can mean “ray of light” or “horn.” A mistranslation turned a shining face into a horned one.

Even Michelangelo followed the horned convention, suggesting that many medieval creators genuinely believed Moses possessed horns, or at least found the visual striking enough to repeat.

5 Mary Magdalene Covered In Body Hair

Gothic painters gave Mary Magdalene a shaggy makeover, covering her from neck down in thick body hair. The legend says that after renouncing worldly comforts, her robes fell away and hair miraculously grew over her body, turning her into a goat‑like figure.

Artists treated this miraculous hair as a visual shorthand for her ascetic transformation, resulting in a striking, if somewhat unsettling, portrayal.

4 Bored People Dying

Violent medieval scenes often feature victims who look inexplicably bored, even as they meet gruesome ends—being trampled, skinned, or sliced. This odd expression ties to the concept of Ars moriendi, the art of dying well.

According to the doctrine, a serene, even apathetic, demeanor at death signaled spiritual readiness, whereas panic suggested moral failing. Alternatively, artists may simply have struggled with facial expressions.

3 People Flying Spaceships

Some medieval panels depict tiny rockets or saucer‑like objects soaring above biblical scenes, especially those featuring Christ. One theory posits these are symbolic “alien” representations of divine presence.

A woodcut by Hans Glaser even claims to show a sky battle of flying saucers over Nuremberg, lending credence to the more out‑there explanation that medieval artists were chronicling extraterrestrial encounters.

2 Demons With Faces On Their Crotches

Medieval demonology art often gave monsters grotesque faces right on their genital regions. These crotch‑faces sometimes spewed fire, reinforcing the theme of sexual temptation and moral corruption.

The placement served as a visual warning: the true face of evil hides where lust dwells, making the demons’ anatomy a moral lesson as much as a frightful image.

1 Things Sticking Out Of People’s Butts

When monks weren’t drawing murderous beasts or crotch demons, they sometimes filled manuscript margins with people sporting objects in their rear ends. The most common motif features a trumpet—or other brass instrument—being thrust into a naked figure’s backside.

Variations include floral patterns, mooning figures, and arrows aimed at buttocks. While scholars search for symbolic meaning, the simplest answer is that medieval humor loved a good butt‑related gag, proving that fart jokes truly are timeless.