Bestiarium

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estiaries, illustrated books of animals, whose moralising contents related to select biblical texts, were highly popular in the late 12th century. Our Oxfordian manuscript probably ranks among the finest examples of its kind. The magnificent codex, richly embellished with gold leaf, not only excels in its marvellous luminous opaque colour painting and clear depiction of animals, plants and human beings, but also in its predilection for serene symmetry, refined ornament and frequent use of carefully executed diaperwork backgrounds.

The pictures are irregularly dispersed throughout the text. According to our modern conception, the animals often show a quite strange view of nature: a crocodile with a serpent’s head and bird’s feet, a horned panther and rather arbitrary colouring are only a few selected examples of a somewhat astonishing iconography which, far from naturalistic sketches, was based on the free interpretation of literary models.

130 gilded animal depictions

The book contains an incredible wealth of animal depictions: 130 miniatures in a contents binding of 105 pages illustrate several chapters on nature and the qualities of animals; they also show birds, snakes, worms, fish, trees, flintstones, as well as the nature of mankind; of special interest is the illustration of the Genesis, with particularly large and strongly narrative painted scenes at the beginning of the book.

A Documentation Kit containing a sample page, in the original size, from the Bestiarium Fine Art Facsimile Volume, plus an illustrated information brochure, is available for $US50.

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