http://en.posztukiwania.pl/wp-content/themes/special-theme
Navigation Menu
  • Blog
  • News
  • About me
  • Media
  • Lectures
Home » Blog » Marvellous bestiaries
Sun06

Marvellous bestiaries

Magdalena Łanuszka :: in Mar 6, 2016 :: in Blog :: 0 comments

The users of the Internet love animals – especially cats, but not exclusively. Today I invite you to have a look at the subject of the animals in the illuminated manuscripts. Medieval books describing animals were called Bestiaries – they were created often as compilations of ancient and medieval texts on both theology and natural history. The main source was so called Physiologus, written probably in Egypt around the end of the 3rd century, which described almost 50 animals, mostly of the Mediterranean areas. The Bestiaries contained the descriptions of both real and mythological animals: it is for sure a topic for more than just one post on a blog. Many of the descriptions in those books had nothing to do with the biological reality, and the alleged activities of the animals were understood as Christian symbols, explained in the theological comments. Let’s have a look at a few examples; this time I would like to focus on some “real” animals, although their description may be quite a fantasy.

Screen Shot 2016-03-06 at 21.35.11

The image shown above comes from the oldest survived illuminated Bestiary manuscript (2 quarter of the 12th c., Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Laud. Misc. 247) and it depicts… a crocodile! Well, it is actually a hydrus (which is supposed to be kind of snake, although looks like a dragon), which kills the crocodile. According to the descriptions, hydrus enters the crocodile’s mouth to be swallowed, and then it escapes eating its way out of the crocodile’s belly. It symbolises Christ entering hell to free the righteous souls… however we are not interested here in hydrus, so let’s get back to the crocodile. The image shows very well that the artist from Northern Europe never had a chance to see a real crocodile – he only read that it is a violent and dangerous beast, so he decided to depict it resembling w wolf. Also, Physiologus stated that crocodile is the only animal that can move its upper jaw; for a northern artist that meant that most likely its head is upside down! And if it spends time in water, it could also resemble a fish…

0b90212feb4b14d3dbfe1e87944702e9

Interestingly, medieval Bestiaries give us quite fantastic stories about the animals that should be well-known in the northern Europe. For example the beavers are described as animals whose testicles were valued for making medicine, so for that reason the beavers were hunted. They were smart enough though to figure it out, so as the Bestiaries tell us, a chased beaver bites off its testicles and throws them to the hunter, who then lets the beaver go. Such a castrated beaver, if chased again, would show the hunter that he has no testicles anymore and that would save its life. That bizarre story comes with a moral: if sinner manages to cut off all his vices (as beaver cuts off its testicles), the devil will eventually leave him alone.

E090959a

An extremely interesting story goes with the description of the badgers; apparently they are very good in a team-work. According to the Bestiaries, badgers dig their holes in a peculiar way: one lies down at the entrance to the hole, holding a stick in its mouth, while the others load soil on its belly. Then two badgers catch the stick with their mouths and drag the badger-wheelbarrow away – that i show they remove the earth they have dug out.

img9014

And finally let’s focus on an animal that happens to have extremely good PR: that is a hedgehog. We were all growing up watching and reading the tales in which merry hedgehogs walked around with the apples on their backs. No-one ever tells the children that hedgehog in fact eats meat, that it is simply a predator. Such a positive PR was apparently created by the hedgehogs already in the Middle Ages; according to the Bestiaries, a hedgehog in the time of wine-harvest climbs the vine (!) and removes the grapes throwing them to the ground. Then it climbs down and rolls over the grapes on the ground, collecting them on the spines. That i show the hedgehog gathers grapes, and takes it to its hole to feed its offspring.

tumblr_m01r6dR3H31rqxd5ko1_1280

We must admit that the hedgehog is a master of the marketing, since Middle Ages until today. It is also so far the only animal that became a star of a video produced by Obrazki NUNU & Discarding Images, based on a medieval Bestiary of Rochester (British Library, London, Royal MS 12 F.XIII). So let’s watch the video and learn from the hedgehogs how to create a positive image, concealing natural tendencies to violence. A good self-promotion has always been a key to success.

 



Post a Reply Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Crypto-dildo?
  • Copy, imitation or forgery?
  • Talk in Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague
  • Us and the War
  • On-line conference on Saints in art (in Polish)

Recent Comments

  • Magdalena Łanuszka on Lascivious “Lascivie”
  • Michael Guest on Lascivious “Lascivie”
  • Mark on Transsexualism?
  • Magdalena Łanuszka on Us and the War
  • Alan Scarfe on Us and the War

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014

Categories

  • Blog
  • Lectures
  • Media
  • News

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Tags

19th century 20th century animals Antiquity architecture art market Bible carnival Central Europe Christ customs death devil Early-modern fresco history Holy Spirit legend literature manuscripts Middle Ages mosaics Muse mythology Old Masters painting photography portrait prints relics Religious art Saints sculpture sex sexuality still life Virgin Mary wine

Designed by Fragrance Design © 2013 | Powered by WordPress

×

By using this website you allow us to place cookies on your computer for analytics.

However, if you would like to, you can change your cookie settings at any time.