Animal representation in Western medieval art is diverse in its artistic forms and animals depicted, whether real or imaginary. These medieval representations are influenced byChristianity: they are decorative and, at the same time, symbolic. In this period, animals can representCreation, Good and Evil,God and theDevil. They were popular in churches, onstained glass windows,bas-reliefs, orpaving stones, the only learning media for the illiterate who made up the majority of medieval society.[1] Animals were sculpted on church capitals and ivory plaques, painted inmanuscript illuminations and churchfrescoes, as well as ingoldsmiths' andsilversmiths' work,seals,tapestries, and stained-glass windows.
The art of the Middle Ages was mainly religious, reflecting the relationship between God and man, created in His image. The animal often appears confronted or dominated by man, but a second current of thought stemming fromSaint Paul andAristotle, which developed from the 12th century onwards, includes animals and humans in the same community of living creatures.[2]
During the Christian era, the Church's commitment to eradicatingpaganism led to a revival of symbolic art. The animal becomes anallegory: the dove, for example, represents peace.[3]
God's creature, the animal, helps man interpret the world, in a symbolic role, particularly represented in bestiaries. From the 13th century onwards,encyclopedias began to appear, partly due to the translation of Aristotle's works. The animal had its place in these inventories, which gradually shed their moralizations, and some started to touch on practical aspects of animal husbandry.
Animals were an active part of life in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the depictions of the months in books of hours, as well as tales, fables, and satires, such as the novel ofRenart, the novel of Fauvel and the fables ofMarie de France.
The Christian story of animals begins with their creation as described inGenesis. In the first Genesis account, God creates the animals as ornaments of the world before creating man and woman in his image. The fish of the sea and the birds of the air are made on the fifth day, followed by the beasts of the earth on the sixth day.[4] In the second Genesis account, God destinies the animals to help man.[4] Adam names the animals, establishing his superiority over them in the Christian vision.[5][6]
In the Christian religion, animals are also important in these stories:
When describingfauna, the medieval man attached more importance to allegory and animal symbolism than to observation. Knowledge was passed on through ancient authors. Around the 12th century, the firsttaxonomy appeared in Englishbestiaries, distinguishing between quadrupeds, birds, fish, and reptiles. Then, from the 13th century onwards, notions of science and natural history began to develop.[5]
In bestiary descriptions, the distinction between familiar and wild, common and exotic, real and imaginary animals is not taken into account.[5] The very existence of imaginary animals, particularly those that appear in theBible such as dragons and unicorns, was not called into question until much later:Edward Topsell still includes them in hisHistory of Four-Footed Beasts (1607).[7] Moreover, certain animals such as the crocodile may have been familiar to ancient authors, seeing as thePhysiologus source of bestiaries was written nearAlexandria.[5]
The list of animals known in the Middle Ages includes a number of hybrid beings such asmermaids,centaurs,[8] and theBonnacon, a bull-headed horse with ram's horns.[5] The presence ofchimeras, animal representations that can go beyond named species, became popular, as seen on the northern portal ofRouen Cathedral, where over a hundred creatures do not appear to correspond to a known species.[8]
Representations of animals during the Middle Ages are also seen in hunting books, fables, and seals. Medieval seals were the medium on which many of the animals featured in medieval literature found their place. Birds, fish, mammals, and snakes populated these prints, as did the hybrid creatures mentioned above. Among these seals is that of Jean de Franquerue (12th century), which appears to feature a gargoyle, a man's head leaning against a horse's head and legs and an eagle's head, accompanied by acinquefoil, on a field of crosses.[9] The seal ofPhilip III of Burgundy also features two lions supporting the Duke's shield. As we can see from these examples, it is possible to infer that animal iconography was available and widespread in medieval society. In addition to its symbolic function, it also played a role in identity, the seal being man's image, his image, the one that extends, emblematizes, and symbolizes him, the one that is both himself and the double of himself.[10]
Over the course of the Middle Ages, animal representation evolved from codified imagery derived from multiple influences to naturalistic representation, as illustrated by the life sketches made in theVisconti orFrederick II menagerie, such asVillard de Honnecourt's lion.
Most animal descriptions are based on thePhysiologus, an ancient bestiary written in Greek in Alexandria in the 2nd or 3rd century, then translated into Latin in the 4th century.[1] The West was also influenced by the Orient and dragons and griffins were grafted onto Western animals. Familiar animals are represented in particular through scenes of peasant life in 15th-centuryBooks of Hours.[4]
From the 9th century onwards,Muslim aniconism was respected for religious spaces, with rare exceptions, particularlyAnatolian mosques. Figurative illustrations can be found in secular works, illuminated manuscripts, and ceramic art.[11]
InMerovingian illumination,zoomorphic lettering appears. Fish and birds, for example, decorate theGellone Sacramentary from the late 8th century.[4]
Romanesque artists drew inspiration from ancient pagan motifs, reinterpreting them according to the current thinking of the time. The meaning becomes religious and moral, sometimes resulting in a modification of ancient forms.[12]
In terms of meaning, the mermaid finds herself associated with lust. She retains her former appearance as a mermaid-bird with wings and talons, an image thatIsidore of Seville justifies by saying that "love flies and claws". At the same time, the mermaid-fish motif appeared, the result of assimilation withtritons. It comes in two forms: single-tailed or bifid.[12]
An early work ofCistercian art, Étienne Harding's Bible consists of a first volume decorated with gilded initials and a second volume featuring illuminations.[13] But with Saint Bernard, a more austere art form began to emerge. In 1140, he railed against cloister decorations, in particular, the carved bestiary: "But what do these ridiculous monsters, these horrible beauties and these beautiful horrors mean in your cloisters, where the monks do their reading? What's the point, in these places, of these foul apes, these ferocious lions, these chimerical centaurs, these half-human monsters, these variegated tigers, these soldiers who fight, and these hunters who give horn".[note 1]
The Statutes ofCîteaux (1150–1152) proclaim: "We forbid the making of sculptures or paintings in our churches or other places of the monastery because while one looks, one often neglects the usefulness of a good meditation and the discipline of religious gravity". Cistercian art was then characterized by pared-down decorations, possibly featuring stylized vegetation. Gold was banned from manuscripts, and a different color could only be used for initials. Before theGothic explosion, figuration gradually made a comeback, as in themodillions ofFlaran Abbey, the decorations ofSilvacane, and thecloister ofValmagne Abbey.Henri Focillon wrote that "the Cistercians expelled from religious art what remained of pomp and mystery".[13]
An early Renaissance painter,Hieronymus Bosch used animals and fantasy creatures in some of his works, particularly inThe Garden of Delights.[note 2] The artist used animals to criticize the society in which he lived.[5]
In the Middle Ages, the lion's title as king of the beasts came from both the Bible andGreco-Roman heritage, as evidenced by scriptures, fables, encyclopedias, and bestiaries.[6] The lion is usually identified by its tail and mane, and it is sometimes crowned as king.[5] The lion is associated with medieval royalty throughRichard I of England's nickname of Richard the Lionheart.[5]
In theOld Testament, the lion is confronted by man on three occasions: killed with his bare hands bySamson, when a swarm of bees settles in his corpse; struck down byDavid to protect his father's sheep; and in the scene fromDaniel in the lion's den.[14]
Samson's fight against the lion is interpreted asChrist's victory overSatan. It is a scene often depicted in the Middle Ages, for example on churchtympanums in bas-relief, carved on capitals, in illuminated manuscripts, or on the enameledaltarpiece by Nicolas de Verdun created forKlosterneuburg Abbey. The scene of Samson gathering honey from the mouth of the dead lion appears on theWiligelm-style carved doorframe of theAbbey of Nonantola, the lion thus becoming a Christ-like symbol.[14]
The scene of David as a young shepherd features either a lion or a bear. The version with the lion appears, for example, on theBegon lantern in the treasury of the Abbey of Conques and is one of the fourteen full-page illustrations in thePsaultier de Paris, a 9th-centuryByzantine manuscript.[note 3][15]
Daniel in the lion's den, sometimes simply entitled "Daniel among the lions", is a frequently depicted scene. It appears on a 6th-centuryVisigoth capital in the church ofSan Pedro de la Nave, in numerous Romanesque churches,[14] and on the portal of thechurch of Saint-Trophime in Arles.
The image of the lion can become more negative, as illustrated byPsalm 22, verse 22, "Save me from the lion's mouth", and we find sculptures of lions devouring men,[16] as on the portal of theCathedral of Sainte-Marie in Oloron.[5] Another negative connotation is associated with a passage fromPeter referring to Satan who roams like a lion seeking prey to devour.[17]Psalm 91, verse 13, "You shall tread on the asp and the basilisk; you shall trample on the young lion and the dragon", is the origin of the figure ofChrist treading on the beasts, as on theGenoelselderen diptych[14] or the Christ blessing on the portal ofAmiens Cathedral.[5]
In thePhysiologos, and later in bestiaries, it is asserted that the lion can sleep with its eyes open, which gave the lion a guardian role, embodied by its presence at the entrance to churches and halls, as on thetrumeau of theabbey of Saint-Pierre de Moissac.[5] Illuminated manuscripts depict the lion according to the three fundamental characteristics given in thePhysiologos: he stands at the top of the mountains, his eyes are open even when he sleeps,[note 4][18] and he brings his dead-born cubs back to life after they have spent three days in limbo.[5] This last characteristic associates him with resurrection: he therefore is also interpreted as having a role in protecting men in death and is said to be found at the feet of those who lie dead.[5]
The lion is also depicted through the positive images ofSaint Jerome and his lion, and thetetramorph (Saint Mark's lion).[3] The winged lion is highly represented inVenice: it is the city's symbol, and legend has it that the city is responsible for guarding the remains of Saint Mark.[18] The lion is often seen in Catholic churches, representing the strength of the believer in the fight against sin, and objects such as lion's paw bracelets, episcopal seats carved with the effigy of a lion, candlestick bases, and church portals.[18]
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The bear was celebrated and venerated in Antiquity and the High Middle Ages, mostly by theCelts andGermanic-Scandinavians: Christian authorities therefore endeavored to combat these animistic cults by changing the symbolism of the bear, which went from being represented as king of the animals to becoming seen as a clumsy, silly, tame beast during the 12th century.[19] This phenomenon took the form of physical combat against the animal and festivals dedicated to it, but also throughhagiography and representations. Indeed, hagiography abounds with examples of saints taming bears, such asSaint Blaise,Saint Columban, andSaint Gall. All of them had the function of combating pagan bear cults.[20] At the same time, according toMichel Pastoureau, many medieval theologians drew inspiration fromSaint Augustine andPliny the Elder to paint a portrait of the bear more related to the figure of the Devil.[19] Thus associated with the Devil, the bear became his favorite animal or one of his forms. In Christian iconography, the Devil often has the feet, muzzle, and coat of a bear. The bear's hairy appearance and brown color became a sign of diabolical bestiality, and the animal was attributed capital sins.[19]
The first unicorns in medieval bestiaries rarely resembled a white horse, but rather a goat, a sheep, a doe, a dog, a bear, or a snake.[21] They came in a variety of colors, including blue, brown, and ochre, before the white color and twisted shape of the horn became widespread.[22] Often confused with the rhinoceros, descriptions of the two began to merge as early as Pliny the Elder, who described the unicorn as existing in two varieties: one, very discreet, resembling an antelope or a goat with a single horn on the forehead, the other a huge, uncapturable animal with a very tough skin.[1] The generalization of its caprine and equine form and white color is the result of the symbolism and allegories attributed to it.[22]
In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, the unicorn became a popular theme in bestiaries and tapestries in the Christian West, and to a lesser extent in sculptures.[23] Two series of tapestries featuring unicorns can be mentioned here:The Unicorn Tapestries andThe Lady and the Unicorn.
The Unicorn Tapestries is a famous series of seven tapestries executed between 1495 and 1505, depicting a group of noblemen pursuing and capturing a unicorn. This series, probably executed for a French patron (perhaps to mark a large wedding) by theBrussels[24] orLiège[25] workshops, subsequently came into the possession of theLa Rochefoucauld family, before being purchased byJohn D. Rockefeller, who donated it to theMetropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains today.
The Lady and the Unicorn is a series of six tapestries dating from the late 15th century and exhibited at theMusée de Cluny inParis. In each tapestry, a lion and a unicorn are depicted to the right and left of a lady. Five of these representations illustrate a sense,[note 5] and the sixth tapestry, on which the phrase "Mon seul désir" (My only desire) can be read on a tent, is more debated by specialists.[26]
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of miniatures of unicorns with the same staging inspired by thePhysiologos: the beast is seduced by a treacherous virgin and a hunter pierces its flank with a spear.[22] The "capture of the unicorn" seems to stem from the culture of courtly love,[27] linked to respect for women, leisure pursuits, music, and poetry,[23] and all these illustrations are Christian-inspired, the unicorn representing betrayal of Christ, its flank pierced by a spear as in the biblical episode of the Passion of Jesus Christ.[22] According to Francesca Yvonne Caroutch, the unicorn represents the divine beast whose horn captures cosmic energy and impregnates theVirgin Mary in the numerous "Annunciations to the Unicorn ".[28]
According to the Dictionary of Symbols, works of art depicting two unicorns confronting each other represent a violent inner conflict between the unicorn's two values: virginity and fecundity.[29] From the 15th century onwards, wild men and women became frequent in iconography[30] and the unicorn was associated with wild beasts,[22] sometimes ridden bySilvani, although only a virgin could ride it.[21] This idea that the unicorn can only live apart from men, in a wild state and in a remote forest from which it cannot be torn, in which case it would die of sadness, was taken up by other authors much later, among whichCarl Gustav Jung.[31]
Issued fromCeltic andAsian traditions, the dragon starts appearing in early Christian art. They can be found in Byzantine art,Slav icons, gargoyles, and illuminated manuscripts.[32]
The medieval dragon is depicted as an evil, hideous monster always associated with evil. In Latin,draco means both dragon and serpent; the dragon is linked to the serpent and in particular to the tempter of Genesis, who droveAdam andEve to taste theforbidden fruit.[5] Medieval encyclopedias therefore classify it as a serpent.[6]
The dragon is depicted in a variety of forms,[32] most often with two clawed legs, a long reptilian tail, and sometimes wings, or even several heads.[6]
In theApocalypse,Saint Michael and his angels fight the dragon. It is brought down by many saints in battles that symbolize the triumph of Good over Evil, or even the victory of Christianity over paganism.[5] In some versions ofSaint George and the Dragon, for example, the saint agrees to kill the monster only if the villagers are baptized. In the legend ofSaint Margaret of Antioch, the dragon that swallows the saint and from which she emerges intact thanks to a cross is the Devil.Martha of Bethany uses holy water to subdue a dragon, thetarasque, a six-legged dragon which, according to the golden legend, gives its name to the town ofTarascon.[5]
Horses were part of everyday life in the Middle Ages. It was the attribute of knights and was the subject of a specific vocabulary:palfrey,destrier, orrouncey designate different types of horse for different uses. Fictional horses such asPegasus have populated tales and legends since Antiquity. In the Middle Ages,chanson de geste heroes rode palfreys or fairy horses to serve courtly love.[1]
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