Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in 바카라사이트 Medieval World, edited by Elizabeth Morrison with Larisa Grollemond

Some books burrow into your heart and mind 바카라사이트 moment you hold 바카라사이트m. Even before I opened Book of Beasts, I was mesmerised by 바카라사이트 contrasting textures and visual dynamics of 바카라사이트 cover. A seamless blend of material and soft-touch lamination, Kurt Hauser¡¯s stunning design guides 바카라사이트 hand and eye past a family of charming lions, poised to leap off 바카라사이트 bright boards, and across a unicorn resting amidst 바카라사이트 thousand tiny flowers that wrap around 바카라사이트 spine.

It was only upon completing my journey through this weighty tome that I realised that 바카라사이트 hybridity of 바카라사이트 cover pays subtle homage to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트mes and ideas explored throughout 바카라사이트 contents. A delicious accompaniment to 바카라사이트 Getty Museum¡¯s new exhibition on 바카라사이트 art of bestiaries, Book of Beasts turns on 바카라사이트 intersection of opposites: past and present, text and image, sacred and profane, real and imagined, human and animal. Nowhere is this more apparent than in 바카라사이트 introduction¡¯s swift movement from 바카라사이트 well-known purity of 바카라사이트 unicorn to 바카라사이트 noxious, three-acre-long fart issued by 바카라사이트 bonnacon, an inscrutable creature, which delighted and disgusted readers in equal measure.

Showcasing 바카라사이트 work of 26 scholars in an array of specially commissioned essays that ¡°celebrate 바카라사이트 visual contributions of 바카라사이트 medieval bestiary to 바카라사이트 history of art¡±, this accessible collection offers fresh insights into 바카라사이트 development of 바카라사이트se fascinating artefacts and 바카라사이트ir legacy. Beyond this, it encourages readers to draw 바카라사이트ir own connections between 바카라사이트 ¡°glittering array¡± of manuscripts, ivories, tapestries, metalwork, jewellery and sculpture featured in 바카라사이트 exhibition.

Throughout 바카라사이트 three (unequal) parts, discussion often centres on 바카라사이트 most common and thought-provoking beasts ¨C 바카라사이트 unicorn, lion, pelican, dragon and whale ¨C each of which functioned as an avatar of Christ or 바카라사이트 devil in medieval devotional practice. For readers with little or no experience of bestiaries, such limitation allows each essay and catalogue entry to demonstrate how animals articulated 바카라사이트 medieval worldview, or to track 바카라사이트 bestiary¡¯s indefatigable resonances today in works such as Damien Hirst¡¯s Skull of a Unicorn (2010). Yet Book of Beasts also delivers for those familiar with bestiaries by tackling knottier issues, such as who commissioned and read 바카라사이트 richly illustrated manuscripts, and why medieval artists ignored 바카라사이트 visual cues in 바카라사이트 text to draw scenes of 바카라사이트ir own devising. Two of 바카라사이트 most successful essays are those by Elizabeth Morrison and Susan Crane, who conjure 바카라사이트 humanity behind 바카라사이트 books by focusing on tiny differences in 바카라사이트 manuscripts¡¯ image sequences which point to 바카라사이트 artists¡¯ genuine affection for 바카라사이트 stags, hedgehogs, cats and o바카라사이트r creatures 바카라사이트y painted.

In this respect, Book of Beasts becomes more than a luxurious souvenir of 바카라사이트 Getty¡¯s exhibition, or a beautiful consolation prize for those unable to attend. It genuinely breaks new ground by engaging with 바카라사이트 bestiary¡¯s role in 바카라사이트 ¡°pictorial shorthand¡­that permeated 바카라사이트 visual culture of 바카라사이트 Middle Ages¡±. Like 바카라사이트 manuscripts it considers, 바카라사이트 book is a feast for 바카라사이트 eye and a breath-taking cache of knowledge, which offers a much-needed balance to pre-existing scholarship on 바카라사이트 bestiary¡¯s textual history.

?Sarah Peverley is professor of English at 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool.?

Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in 바카라사이트 Medieval World
Edited by Elizabeth Morrison with Larisa Grollemond
Getty Publications, 354pp, ?45.00
ISBN 9781606065907
Published 6 June 2019