Phallus tree

The Massa Marittima mural is one of the most unusual medieval artworks out there. Thought to be painted in the mid-13 century, this mural depicts a tree covered in 25 oversized phalli, with 5 birds and 8 women below gathering them. It’s easy to focus on its explicit imagery, I mean, there’s a bunch of penises hanging from the branches of the tree. Yet, historians can’t seem to agree on its actual meaning. Some argue it served political purposes, propaganda of sorts. Others argue it was a symbol of fertility, or that the mural was associated with gender or witchcraft.
The mural of the phallus tree was found behind the plaster of a fountain named ‘Fonte dell'Abbondanza’ in the year 2000 in the town Massa Marittima, Italy. This mural dates back to 1265, and was found by accident while the fountain was being restored. The original form of the 6 meter wide, 5 meter high mural was a fresco painting, and the original creator of the mural is unknown. Below the tree, there are four women on each side. Johan J. Mattelaer describes the women on the left side as very active, while the ones on the right side are peaceful. Looking at the four women on the left, the two closest to the tree are pulling at each other's hair and fighting, just to get a phallus. The third woman is waving a stick to smack the phalluses out of the tree.The last woman on the far left of the manuscript, however, looks and acts differently. She appears much less active and somewhat humiliated, leading to discussions about her significance.
One of the most prominent interpretations of the Massa Marittima mural is that it was a political statement—a piece of anti-Ghibelline propaganda. George Ferzoco’s argument, as described by Longenbach and Matthew Ryan Smith, claims that the mural was painted during a time of political struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy. Ferzoco argues that the black birds in the mural represent the Ghibelline eagle, and the display of phallic imagery (in such a grotesque manner) is meant to symbolize the moral corruption of the Ghibelline faction . The placement of the mural near a public fountain reinforces the idea that it was meant to be seen by the public as a warning against Ghibelline rule .
Another historian, Dilshat Harman, argues that the eagle appeared later and was interpreted as a symbol of the Ghibelline emblem. The eagle and emblem do have commonalities just by looking at the two, but the history of the Ghibelline and Guelph rivalry is what pushed Harman to believe that the eagle was an add-on. The Guelphs and Ghibellines conflict occurred between the 12th and 13th centuries, becoming a pivotal struggle in medieval Italian history. The Ghibellines supported the Holy Roman Emperor, while the Guelphs supported the Pope. This created significant divisions in Italy. Within the Guelph faction itself, there were tensions between the White and Black Guelphs. The White Guelphs were more independent, maintaining a neutral stance, while the Black Guelphs were more firm, leading to more conflict.
While these arguments are compelling, they rely heavily on the assumption that medieval audiences would have recognized these symbols as explicitly political. Critics, like Matthew Ryan Smith, argue that there is little direct evidence linking the mural to political disputes . The Ghibelline eagle interpretation, particularly, is speculative—there is no surviving documentation from the period that identifies the birds in the mural as a political symbol . Instead, the assumption that the mural was meant as propaganda is largely based on later readings of its imagery through a modern political lens.
Another major interpretation of this mural argues that it is best understood as a symbol of fertility and abundance. Scholars such as Hoch point out that medieval phallic imagery was often associated with fertility rites and apotropaic—or protective—functions, rather than political propaganda . In this view, the exaggerated phallic tree represents abundance, renewal, and the cycle of life—an idea reinforced by the mural’s placement near a public fountain, a structure linked to fertility and communal well-being, which allowed all to see the pictures . Hoch argues that similar representation of phallic trees can be found in medieval art across Europe, particularly in pilgrimage badges and manuscript images that show women harvesting penises from trees . Mattelaer expands on this by drawing comparisons to German and Dutch fertility rituals, where symbolic representations of phallic imagery were meant to invoke one of two things: prosperity and good fortune or sorcery and witchcraft . These comparisons suggest that the mural was a part of a larger medieval artistic tradition, rather than a unique political statement.
Historians have also discussed gender as a connection to the mural. Longenbach mentions the issue of gender in the Middle Ages, writing about how women were seen as threatening and unable to control themselves sexually. She includes the quote from Aristotle, stating that women were wet, contaminated, and dirty, making them the direct opposite of men. Additionally, she writes about how any sexual sin was blamed on them. She states that a woman's body was a dangerous tool because it could unknowingly seduce a man. These stereotypes about women are present while looking at the mural. The need to illustrate those women in such aggressive ways reiterates Longenbach’s point that women were seen as highly threatening, unable to control themselves.
In the Journal article, “The Flying Phallus and the Laughing Inquisitor: Penis Theft in the ‘Malleus Maleficarum’”, by Moira Smith in 2002, she describes an account of the phallus trees being picked by insatiable, lustful women who’d steal the penises of men. According to the author, this account was used to isolate and punish women, making witchcraft a gendered crime, the most popular offense being stealing penises and keeping them in nests for men to retrieve . She explains how although these accusations were purely fantasy, that the persecution of women as a result of it was a reality for many. A book written by a medieval roman author describes how the worst nightmare for a man in medieval society was losing his penis; the cause of this loss being witchcraft . He continues to describe a story of a man who loses his penis and must find the woman who stole it and retrieve it by force.