This volume offers the most comprehensive collection of late antique and medieval bestiaries published to date. For the first time, readers will have access to the entire core corpus of bestiaries, in verse and prose, with the original texts (Greek, Ethiopic, Latin, French, Occitan, Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic, German, and Russian) alongside new translations and extensive annotations (introductions, notes, and bibliographies). These are surprising and fascinating texts, which constitute an essential source of information for the study of any aspect (religious, historical, literary, or artistic) of medieval culture. Originating in Alexandria, Egypt, likely in the 2nd century AD with the "Greek Physiologus" (whose text was gradually modified, expanded, and reworked in numerous versions in various languages), this genre describes the "nature" (the characteristics) of animals and, at the same time, develops allegorical interpretations based on themes and figures from Christian doctrine. Starting from the principle that "the world is a symbol" (as the great medieval art historian Emile Mâle suggested), bestiaries have their theological foundation in the idea that all material realities are images or mirrors of spiritual and divine realities. The volume is further enhanced by a color iconographic insert featuring some seventy miniatures drawn from various manuscripts: an extraordinary testament to the artistic value of these splendid illustrations. - [Publisher]

Language: Italian

Locators: ISBN: 978-88-452-9549-2