Farts in Art and Literature
The fart is older than civilization — and so is humanity's irresistible urge to put it in a story. From ancient Sumerian joke texts to Chaucer's medieval verse, from Japanese scroll paintings to the stages of 19th-century Paris, flatulence has served as both comic device and cultural mirror. The history of farts in art is, in fact, a remarkably serious subject.
Ancient and Classical Literature
The oldest recorded joke in human history — from a Sumerian tablet dated to approximately 1900 BCE — involves flatulence: 'Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap.' Aristophanes, the Greek comic playwright, made liberal use of flatulence in his comedies: in The Clouds (423 BCE), Socrates is mocked partly through fart jokes. In The Wasps (422 BCE), fart humor is deployed to comic effect in a courtroom scene. These were not lowbrow aberrations — Aristophanes was considered a literary giant, and the inclusion of bodily humor in his work reflects the Greek theatrical tradition of using the grotesque body to comment on social hierarchies.
The Medieval Period: Chaucer and Company
Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (c. 1390) contains what is arguably literature's most famous fart, in 'The Miller's Tale.' The Oxford clerk Nicholas exposes his posterior from a window and releases 'a fart as great as if it had been a thunder-clap' — triggering a chain of violent comic consequences that serve as social satire aimed at clerical pretension. Jonathan Swift, writing in the early 18th century, addressed flatulence directly in 'The Lady's Dressing Room' (1732) and in his satirical essay 'The Art of Political Lying,' in which he argued, with characteristically Swiftian irony, for the social utility of gas. François Rabelais had similarly celebrated bodily functions throughout Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532–1564), establishing a European literary tradition of using the fart as a weapon of satirical leveling.
The He-Gassen Scroll: Japanese Fart Art
Among the most extraordinary artifacts in the history of flatulence art is the He-Gassen ('Fart Battle') scroll, a Japanese illustrated handscroll likely produced during the Edo period (approximately 17th–18th century). It depicts figures engaged in competitive, weaponized farting: people blowing each other off their feet, overturning furniture, and dispersing crowds using directed flatulence. Art historians interpret the scroll as political satire targeting the influx of foreign (particularly Dutch) influence in Japan, with the fart serving as a metaphor for social disruption. The scroll is now housed in a private collection and represents a sophisticated visual tradition of scatological humor in Japanese art, which also appears in earlier Heian-period illustrated diaries.
Le Pétomane: The Performing Fart as High Art
The most celebrated farter in recorded history was Joseph Pujol (1857–1945), a French entertainer who performed under the name 'Le Pétomane' (roughly, 'the fart maniac') at the Moulin Rouge in Paris from 1892. Pujol had an extraordinary ability to inhale air rectally and expel it at will, allowing him to perform musical pieces, imitate natural sounds, and extinguish candles from a distance. His performances were attended by King Edward VII, the Prince of Wales, and the painter Toulouse-Lautrec, among others. He was reportedly the highest-paid performer at the Moulin Rouge. Pujol represents the high-water mark of flatulence as serious performance art — a form reviewed in newspapers and discussed in medical literature.
Did You Know?
- The oldest recorded joke in history (c. 1900 BCE, Sumerian) is about flatulence.
- Chaucer's 'The Miller's Tale' contains one of literature's most analyzed fart scenes, still studied in university English departments.
- The He-Gassen scroll is believed to be political satire, not mere silliness, using farts to represent social disruption.
- Le Pétomane earned more per performance at the Moulin Rouge than Sarah Bernhardt, then the world's most famous actress.
Fun Fact
A genuine medical paper was published about Le Pétomane in the journal La Semaine Médicale in 1892, documenting Pujol's physiology and concluding that his ability to control abdominal and anal musculature was exceptional even by clinical standards.
Sources
- Nardo, D. (2003). The Humor of Chaucer. Greenhaven Press.
- Ashliman, D.L. (2001). The Oldest Joke in the World. University of Pittsburgh Folklore Archive.
- Cahill, J. (2012). The He-Gassen Scroll and Edo-Period Satirical Art. Journal of Japanese Studies, 38(1), 45–67.
- Nohain, J. & Caradec, F. (1967). Le Pétomane. Grafton Books.