Polish Netflix has recently produced widely acclaimed comedy series entitled “1670”, satirically presenting contemporary Polish society in historical costume of the seventeenth century (trailer in English is available HERE). Opening, however, is a compilation of artworks that do not date back to the 17th century, but have been taken from…
Mysterious cult of a Saint Hound
A few years ago, when I wrote about looted middle part of Lusina altarpiece (National Museum in Cracow, war loss – post available HERE) I mentioned several – often contradictory – interpretations for a dog in medieval art. On one hand it could have symbolised faithfulness, but on the other…
Elephant and mandrake
A few times already I have written about medieval bestiaries, that is about books on animals. They include descriptions of both fantastic beasts (see HERE and HERE), as well as real animals, albeit often with rather legendary approach (see HERE). In the latter group was undoubtedly and elephant. Medieval bestiaries…
Medieval cats
As it happens, lately I have been staying in a place with lots of cats. I do not consider myself as a cat person (I do not have my own cat), but I must admit, those cats are intriguing creatures. Especially when there is, let’s say, eight of them. As…
Lesser known legends about Saints and dragons
Lately I have written about the western entrance to the Cracow Cathedral, which has been decorated with sculpted depictions of St Margaret and St Michael (post is available HERE). Those two were famous for dealing with dragon, and it became their attribute, just as it is an attribute of St…