The Green Man
Types - The Green Man may be divided into three main types.
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The Foliate Mask type is defined as having a face with greenery growing from the flesh.
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The Disgorger usually has greenery emerging from the mouth but it may also be from the nose ears and even eyes.
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The Jack-in-the-Green is a human face surrounded by or looking out from foliage.
There are also examples which contain elements of more than one type.
Whether the three types originated and diverged from a single type or had individual origins is not known. Each type has it's equivalent in none-human examples. There are foliate masks featuring cats, disgorging dragons and animal equivalents of the Jack-in-the-Green.
Leaves - The two common elements of the Green Man are a human face and foliage. The leaves themselves take many forms and the ability to determine the species of leaf depends as much on the skill of the sculptor as the observer. Some carvings are realistic interpretations of nature while others are simple crude representations. Oak, acanthus,
Location - As a decorative form the Green Man is highly adaptable and easily lends itself to fill any available space, circular, triangular, square etc. In medieval architecture the carvings may be found in any of the following positions:-
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Corbels - supporting blocks on walls for beams, columns or vault ribs etc.
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Capitals of pillars
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Roof bosses - decorations at the intersection of the ribs in vaulted roofs
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