ВРЪЗКА МЕЖДУ ОБРАЗ И ФУНКЦИЯ В СРЕДНОВЕКОВНИТЕ ЕВРОПЕЙСКИ БЕСТИАРИИ, ПРЕДСТАВЕНА ВЪВ ФРЕНСКИТЕ

МИНАТЮРИ.

Физиологът, известен в Западна Европа компилация, съдържаща описания на животни, птици, фантастични животни, понякога камъни и растения. Тези описания имат морализаторска функция.

- в Средновековното общество, където обикновено е ограничено пътуването няма разграничение във вярата и възприятието на фантастичните и реално съществували екзотични животни

Всяко от описанията на е съпътствано от алегорично и морално тълкуване на Светото писание

THE PHYSIOLOGUS

Данни за паметника. Обща представа

Най-старата, базова версия на Физиолога (Александрийска редакция, II век. 48 (or 49) описания на животни,

минерали и растения, подредени по специфичен начин: лъв, слънчев гущер (крокодил), харадрий (wading bird), пеликан,

нощен гарван, орел, феникс, папуняк, магаре, ехидна, змия, мравка, сирена (Σειρήν) и кентавър, таралеж, лисица, пантера, кит, яребица, орел, мравояд, невестулка, еднорог, бобър, хиена, видра, ихневмон (ιχνευμον или едипетска мангуста), гарван, гугутка, жаба, елен, саламандър, диамант, лястовица, дърво передексион, гълъб, хдропос, огнен камък, магнит, риба-трион, ибис, газела, слон, ахат, онагър (диво магаре), магаре, индийски камък, чапла, черница, щраус.

A unicorn, its head in the lap of a naked woman, is speared by an armored knight, British Library, Royal MS 12 F. xiii, Folio 10v, England, About 1230

For the lion. The Physiologist says as follows: We begin to speak about the lion, for the king of beasts and animals. Jacob, blessing his son Judah, said, "Judah is a lion's whelp” [Gen. 49: 9]. Physiologus, who wrote about the nature of these words, said that the lion has three natures. His first nature is that when he walks following a scent in the mountains, and the odor of a hunter reaches him, he covers his tracks with his tail wherever he has walked so that the hunter may not follow them and find his den and capture him. Thus also, our Savior, the spiritual lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David [cf. Rev. 5: 5], having power with powers, descending until he had descended into the womb of a virgin to save the human race which had perished. "And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us" [John 1:14]. And those who are on high not knowing him as he descended and ascended said this, "Who is this king of glory?" And the angels leading him down answered, "He is the lord of virtues, the king of glory" [cf. Ps. 24:10] “

Physiologus, Alexandrian version

Two lions lick their cubs to bring them to life, British Library, Royal MS 12 C. xix, Folio 6r, England (Durham?), c. 1200-1210

Relief, 16th century, Saint Peter’s church, Leuven, Belgium

A mother pelican feeds her blood to her young, thus reviving them. Grootseminarie Brugge, MS. 89/54, Folio 5, Flanders, ca. 1190-1200

BESTIARY (BESTIARUM VOCABULUM)

Physiologus is the main source of Bestiarum Vocabulum

Latin versions - divided into four broad families, with the First Family further divided into three subfamilies.

Compared to the Greek and Slavic versions, usually the western is illustrated

St. Bernard of Clairvoux, Apology, around 1127

"What profit is there in those ridiculous monsters, in that marvellous and deformed comeliness, that comely deformity? To what purpose are those unclean apes, those fierce lions, those monstrous centaurs, those half men, those striped tigers, those fighting knights, those hunters winding their horns? Many bodies are seen under one head, or again many heads to one body. Here is a four-footed beast with a serpent’s tail; there a fish with a beast’s head. Here again the fore-part of a horse trails half a goat behind it, or a horned beast bears the hind quarters of a horse. In short, so many and marvellous are the varieties of shapes on every hand that we are tempted to read in the marble than in our books, and to spend the whole day wondering at these things rather than meditating the law of God. For God’s sake, if men are not ashamed of these follies, why at least do they not shrink from the expense?"

CROCODILE, BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE, LAT. 3630, FOLIO 80R, 3RD QUARTER 13TH CENTURY

WHALE, KONGELIGE BIBLIOTEK, GL. KGL. S. 3466 8º, FOLIO 59V, BESTIARY OF ANN WALSH, ENGLAND, 15TH CENTURY

Ostrich, Grootseminarie Brugge, MS. 89/54, Folio 5, Flanders, ca. 1190-1200

Snakes 1.Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 6838B,

Folio 34r, Northern France, 13th century

2.Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, Folio 49v, Bestiary of Ann Walsh. England, 15th century