Beasts and Bestiaries: From Prehistory to the Renaissance (Archives of Art Pre-1800)

With an introduction by the well-known animal psychologist Danilo Mainardi, this book by Francesco Mezzalira discusses the historical and scientific questions raised by animal illustrations, and then looks at specific examples. These range from the Codex Vindobonensis, an illuminated manuscript of the sixth century AD with its illustrations of birds, retiles and anthropods, through fascinating medieval bestiaries crowded with pelicans, eagles and unicorns, all heavy with Christian or heraldic meaning, to zoological depictions of the sixteenth cemtury, where the animals are often accessories to aristocratic portraits or religious paintings. From the realism of Antiquity to the anthropomorphism of Pisanello, Carpaccio and Giambologna, this book unites the themes of art and animals over thousands of years.