This figure is at St. Mary's and St. David's Church in England. Its head and vulva are depicted in status perspective, the sculpture looks at its observers in an almost demoniac way. With both hands it pulls apart the pudental cleft and allows a deep insight into the interior of the body. Its legs are thin and depicted in an artistically neglected way. The main focus lies on the woman's vulva. The assumption of an erotic context can be neglected since on the one hand the figure is situated on a church and on the other hand the view is not especially inviting. Without doubt, this figure is female but it is not a depiction of a woman because it is missing individual realistic features and breasts. In contrast, in central European countries like France and Spain, women who are pointing to their genitals are definitely connected with human beings. The current state of research highlights several interesting forms of interpretation concerning the significance and meaning of sheela-na-gigs[1] and other similar figures. Monika Gsell presents this and other perspectives in her book[2]. Gsell assumes that those figures coming from Ireland and England are not depictions of real women but divine beings, in particular the Celtic mother goddess Mórrígan. From this she concludes that Christianity tried to "mock pagan deities"[3] in order to demonstrate "the church's victory over Celtic gods"[4]. Additionally, sheelas served as "caricature of Celtic fertility goddesses"[5]. According to Gsell, this idea is based on the fact that Celts never illustrated the sex of their deities in an explicitly deformed way. Other researchers suppose that the figures represent misbelief. Kröll explains in her approach that there is an allegory of the great whore in the Old Testament. She commited adultery and was publically punished by means of the exposure of her vulva[6].

(Translation: C. Wilhelm)