In medieval encyclopedias, a notice describing an animal can be defined as a succession of different properties (descriptive, behavioral, legendary, medicinal, moral, etc.) taking the form of an assembly of extracts chosen from the works of the Authorities ( Pliny, Isidore, Physiologus, Fathers of the Church, Aristotle, etc.). These properties can be used on the one hand by the illuminator to create an image of the animal, most of the time within the framework of a non-naturalistic representation; on the other hand by the man of the church to create exempla and moralizations, which can be used by the preacher to edify his audience, or by the prelate to write sermons on the basis of exemplary anecdotes taken from nature. In this context, we will focus on the Liber de natura rerum by Thomas de Cantimpré, a 13th century encyclopedia, particularly dedicated to natural history. Manuscript 320 from Valenciennes, dating from around 1290, is one of the oldest illuminated witnesses to the Liber de natura rerum. Each notice is illustrated with an image; the margins of the manuscript preserve a significant number of instructions for the illuminator, written in the vernacular. In a few words or a few lines, these instructions summarize the most significant elements of the instructions to indicate to the illuminator what he must draw. For the most common animals, a simple mention of the animal's common name is sufficient. More complex instructions are drawn from elements of the description, behavioral properties or synthesize an action or a short story, sometimes linked to a legendary property. Based on concrete examples taken from the Valenciennes manuscript – and in particular from the book on fish, which presents the most notes for the illuminator – we will try to understand how this image factory works, thus constituted in the form of a puzzle. from several properties transformed into figurative signs, which can often be presented in the form of well-known iconographic attributes, allowing us to recognize the animal with certainty (the tower on the back of the elephant, the sick man of the caladrius, the tiger's mirror, the camel's humps, etc.). Finally, it will be a question of seeing whether the behavioral or fictional elements taken from the notices to form the images are the same as those chosen by the authors of moralized bestiaries inspired by medieval encyclopedias. In this regard, we will take some examples taken from moralizations inspired by Thomas de Cantimpré, but also from texts using Barthélemy l’Anglais, the two authors sharing the same authorities on natural history and therefore numerous “properties” for each species described.

Language: French

HALId: halshs-01914276