Chuck Grimes wrote:
>
>
> A long time ago, I tried to draw one and work with some of the
> associated symbolism, the sheet, the nails, the wood, the wounds, and
> I came to the odd problem of depicting the genitals of the tortured
> and dead. They're not supposed to have genitals, or these are the site
> of torture so the solution becomes a kind of shadowy in-definability
> or a rag. Whatever the graphic solution, it is completely
> unsatisfactory from within the drama of Christianity.
>
Chuck, there was a period (I think late medieval) when paintings of the infant Jesus not only showed his genitals but emphasized them by showing the penis erect. Some years ago there was an article in _Critical Inquiry_ analyzing this. If I remember correctly the point was to emphasize the Incarnation: God _really_ took flesh.
Carrol