Francis Klingender - Animals in Art and Thought to the End of the Middle Ages
Francis Klingender - Animals in Art and Thought to the End of the Middle Ages
1971 | ISBN: 0262110407 | English | 646 pages | PDF | 75 MB
1971 | ISBN: 0262110407 | English | 646 pages | PDF | 75 MB
At all periods animals have been used by man in art and literature to symbolize his religious, social and political beliefs, and artists have found constant inspiration in the grace and beauty of animal forms. Yet animals have also always been viewed realistically by hunters, sportsmen, farmers, and all who come into daily contact with them or exploit them for food supplies or as beasts of burden.
In Animals in Art and Thought Francis Klingender discusses these various attitudes in a survey which ranges from prehistoric cave art to the later Middle Ages. He is especially concerned with uncovering the latent as well as the manifest meanings of animal art, and he presents a detailed examination of the literary and archaeological monuments of the periods under review. The themes discussed include the Creation myths of pagan and Christian religion, the contribution of the animal art of the ancient Orient to the development of the Romanesque and Gothic styles in Europe, the use of beast fables in social or political satire, and the heroic associations of animals in medieval chivalry.