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…
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…
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…
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…
Some time ago I have written about animals from medieval bestiaries (post available HERE) and back then I have mentioned that this topic is a subject for more than one post. That post focused on “real” animals described in medieval books, so now it is time to take a look…