LONDON (Reuters) - At first glance, the Massa Marittima mural looks fairly similar to dozens of other medieval frescoes dotted across Tuscany.
Photo
Reuters Photo
But look closely at the spidery tree that dominates the center of the painting and you notice something peculiar. Its branches are covered in penises.
There are 25 of them in all, of different shapes and sizes, complete with testicles. They hang from the limbs of the tree like leaves fluttering in the breeze.
The mural dates from the 13th century and is still visible on a wall in the Italian town of Massa Marittima where it was discovered during renovation work four years ago.
Until now, it was assumed the phallus tree was a fertility symbol because it stands by a fountain -- the town's main source of water in medieval times.
But, according to a British-based expert, it is actually a unique piece of political propaganda, commissioned by one Tuscan faction to sully the reputation of another.
"It's a very clear political poster," said George Ferzoco, director of the Center for Tuscan Studies at the University of Leicester in central England as he unveiled his theory about the picture for the first time.
"It's a message from the Guelphs, telling people that if the Ghibellines are allowed power they will bring with them heresy, sexual perversion, civic strife and witchcraft."
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were two factions who fought for power in Tuscany and northern Italy for decades during the Middle Ages.
Perhaps the most famous victim of their feuds was the poet Dante, a Guelph expelled from his native Florence in 1302 after a rival Guelph group took power.
