Sculptured pews in the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre, at Saint-Claude, Franche-Comté, France. The wooden sculptures have been realized between 1447 and 1450 and shows several elements of folk culture, among which the figure of the Wild Man, represented according to his classic iconography.
A description of the Wild Man appears in the chivalric romance by Chrétien de Troyes (XII century) Yvain or The Knight of the Lion. He is described as a man of giant stature: “A rustic lout, as black as a mulberry, indescribably big and hideous; indeed, so passing ugly was the creature that no word of mouth could do him justice. On drawing near to this fellow, I saw that his head was bigger than that of a horse or of any other beast; that his hair was in tufts, leaving his forehead bare for a width of more than two spans; that his ears were big and mossy, just like those of an elephant; his eyebrows were heavy and his face was flat; his eyes were those of an owl, and his nose was like a cat's; his jowls were split like a wolf, and his teeth were sharp and yellow like a wild boar's; his beard was black and his whiskers twisted; his chin merged into his chest and his backbone was long, but twisted and hunched. There he stood, leaning upon his club and accoutred in a strange garb, consisting not of cotton or wool, but rather of the hides recently flayed from two bulls or two beeves: these he wore hanging from his neck” (transl. W.W. Comfort 1913). This being shows himself as the master of the forest animals, who exercises his authority over them and who controls the wild beasts so that they will never leave his neighbourhood. He affirms proudly of himself: “I am master of my beasts”.

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