I am having great fun with my Medieval Bestiaries. These three are in the heavily illuminated borders of the opening page to the Gospel According To John in a mid-1400 "Book of Hours". The things that made their way into manuscript borders often show an irreverence towards organized religion, or at least the ordained leaders thereof, as in this pig in ecclesiastical vestments. Also, all these mythical creatures and others we find there, we moderns wouldn't think to have connections to religious traditions, yet here they are. The opening chapter to The Grand Medieval Bestiaries reminds us of the forces influencing common life back in those days:
"The cultures and ideas of the Middle Ages were profoundly marked by bodies of thought issuing from the confrontation of Christianity with the legacy of the ancient world, preeminently a symbolic system according to which the visible world was merely an expression of the realm of the invisible. But these same centuries were also characterized by a passionate and unpredictable attentiveness to the world, and by impulses to invention, poetry, and creation that were sufficiently strong to prevail over rigid theories and dogmas."
It goes on to note that "Medieval images are often polysemic; they can have several meanings, and depictions of a single animal can signify very different things." Cross over into the religious realm, and the meaning gets tied to a bible passage which can give them a totally different symbolism. Or, as indicated in other sources I've read, the illustrator may merely be having fun or sneaking in his or her own slant.
It's always been interesting to me how early Christianity found ways to fold pagan beliefs into its teachings. Take the halcyon, a mythical animal that may or may not correspond to a real animal. Its legend dates back to classical antiquity and the Greek gods, part of which says it lays its eggs directly on the sea, at which point the sea remains perfectly calm until the eggs hatch in 14 days. Sailors referred to this period as the "halcyon days", an expression still used today to to describe an idyllic, peaceful and even prosperous time in the past that is remembered as better than today. Its Christian symbolism ties this period of grace to God's love for "even the least significant of his creatures", making it a symbol of hope and faith.
The Caladrius is also a bird of legend, showing up in a list of unclean birds in the Old Testament while the ancient Greeks and Romans again weave a tale of a bird that can absorb sickness (and thus heal) before "flying away toward the sun which burned away the illness". But if the bird turned away from the patient, he or she would surely die. Fast forward to our medieval bishops and the bird now, partly because of its whiteness "denotes Christ, who came to earth to save humanity." It wasn't a great leap to tie the healing powers of the mythical bird to the Christ who bore our sins. The Caladrius is not always portrayed as duck-like as in this rendering, but this version rather tickled my funny bone.
Now for the giraffe. First let me say that the rest of the sketches went rather easily, but the giraffe, which I THOUGHT would be a breeze, tripped me up. I shortened the body several times but I think it is still longer than the one in the book. Just several things off and I'm tempted to try again. But not any time soon - must move on to the next bestiary. As to why a giraffe would show up in 15th century manuscripts since knowledge of this animal was rare and often described by "authors of fantastic narratives and accounts of wonders," perhaps that was reason enough to slip one in here and there. As for a religious connection, giraffes do show up in the Old Testament and one Rabanus Maurus offered up a moral interpretation of this animal, often described as having the head of a camel, the neck of a horse, the hooves of an ox and the spots of a leopard: that its hybrid character and spotted skin "could be likened to the multitude of human vices, which ultimately leave their mark on those who surrender to them." But apparently, moralizing and illustrations of the giraffe remained quite rare.
No doubt, more than you wanted to know about these creatures, but I find learning about them as I draw just one more perk of the process.
4 comments:
What a happy accident you came across this book as inspiration for your month of sketching! And, no, it's not more than I wanted to know at all! Your subjects & creatures are very interesting! Jan in WY
Thanks Jan! Indeed a happy accident, much more interesting and fun than the other things I was considering. I figured there'd be a few readers as interested in the details as I am. Glad you are one of them. :-)
You’ve blown my mind…..so very, very good!!
Thanks Mary! I think I've said this before but it bears repeating. I often sit back after finishing a sketch and find I've kinda blown my own mind at what I've accomplished. But it's practice practice practice that has gotten me here. I can definitely tell my eye to hand has gotten better from when I first started doing the Inktober challenge (this is my 4th year!), and am doing less erasing and redrawing of my pencil undersketches before inking in. In fact, just yesterday I drew a lovely curved bird's neck and was surprised to find upon comparing to the picture I'm using that it was correct, no need to redraw. THAT is so encouraging!
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