Medieval Bestiary : Image Source

Elephant

An elephant with a very long trunk. The tree may be suggesting one of the elephant's attributes: It has no knee joints so if it falls it cannot stand up on its own. Therefore, it leans on a tree when it sleeps so it will not fall.

The image was obtained from the source listed below.

ARCA - Bibliothèque virtuelle des manuscrits médiévaux (BVMM)

Manuscript

Image du Monde by Gossuin de Metz

Bibliothèque Universitaire Historique de Médecine (Montpellier), H. 437 (L'Image du Monde / Bestiaire of Pierre de Beauvais), folio 98r

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ARCA - Bibliothèque virtuelle des manuscrits médiévaux (BVMM)

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