Defaced

More about the book

From the fourteenth century onward, Western visual culture increasingly depicted violence, transforming real individuals into nameless examples of horror. Historian Valentin Groebner presents a sophisticated model to understand how late-medieval images and narratives of "indescribable" violence functioned. He explores how early-modern images were part of a complex system for visualizing extreme violence through political, military, religious, sexual, and theatrical microhistories. These representations aimed to convey real pain and terror, depicting disfigured faces as symbols of sexual deviance, invisible enemies as barbaric fiends, and soldiers as ruthless conspirators wreaking havoc. However, the interpretation of these terrifying images varied among spectators. Who did one see when confronted with violence? What impact did such images have? Groebner questions how to differentiate between illegitimate violence that disrupts social order and the sanctioned use of force. By addressing these concerns, he challenges contemporary perspectives on early-modern visual culture and encourages readers to reconsider their views on brutality in a world marked by escalating violence.