The margins of medieval manuscripts teem with sirens, satyrs, griffins, unicorns, dragons and other bizarre creatures. Commonplace animals are twisted together in impossible combinations, and human bodies are merged with animal forms in ways that are often both comic and ghastly. Images of these monstrosities pervade art and culture in the Middle Ages, and for medieval pages they must have been a tantalizing suggestion of unknown worlds and unthinkable dangers. But what were they doing there? Were they meaningless distractions, or did these strange beasts have other symbolic meanings? Alixe Bovey's readable text explains the meaning of these monsters and their place in medieval art.
- ISBN10 0712347453
- ISBN13 9780712347457
- Publish Date 15 March 2012 (first published 14 September 2002)
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 29 June 2012
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher British Library Publishing
- Imprint The British Library Publishing Division
- Format Paperback
- Pages 64
- Language English