In mediaeval times, the scholars who wrote books on Natural History were typically sequestered in monasteries, and usually relied upon the tales of travelers for the “facts” of which they wrote. Many of the fanciful animals found in bestiaries were based upon such oral accounts, and as a result the monk-scholar patched together a representation of creatures taking characteristics from known animals. Such a patchwork is what we call a “chimera” and in this picture we have what was probably thought to be a whale or porpoise, or possibly a manatee, having a fishlike body but a head somewhat more like a cow.
This enigmatic sea monster is from an old astronomical illustration, and in the context of this work, is thus fixed in the heavens and fixed in an ocean of amber, peeking out from behind a wall of gold and text fragments, some kind of ancient relic waiting to be deciphered by some future monk-scholar perhaps.
Size: 2″ x 2″
Mixed media: pigment, oil, ink, varnish, paper, gold dust, gold leaf on canvas.
