Although "exotic animals" have become quite common in European cities in recent years, they are often found in whimsical works or chosen by satirists and cartoonists. It must be noted that those less strange creatures also suffered the same fate, such as the satirical painting below. This cartoon on display in the treasures exhibition hall of the Natural History Museum is extremely mocking of the image of the French politician at that time. The politicians in the comics are labeled with satirical Latin names, and although the characters are no longer household names, the body images and moral allegories of various animals, including snakes, seals, bats, etc., are still clear.
Exhibit of Natural History Treasures (Comic Book Weekly), Eugene M. Eugène Forest (1808–1891) and J. J · J. Grandville (1803–1847), France, 1833, hand-colored lithograph, height 26.6 cm, width 45.7 cm
Many "rare birds and beasts" are either unknown, colorful, or unexpected. Although people gradually came into contact with them in reality, their artistic treatment was not based on direct observation. From Albrecht Dürer to Maruyama Ōkyo, artists have created works on facsimiles of preserved or stripped specimens, or with the impressions of others, or even with related species of domestic pets. This method of creation does not prevent them from showing the corresponding characteristics of the animals in their works. They are either gatekeepers, or tomb guards, or simply used to add charm to the indoor environment.
The Japanese tiger below is a great example. For these Japanese painters, the tiger was a "luxury" rather than a real species they had encountered. Although Kishi Ganku does an excellent job of depicting the tiger's fur, fangs, and even whiskers, the tiger's body structure appears too flat and unnatural. It didn't look like a living creature, it was more like a blanket, a peeled tiger skin. It shows its vibrancy when it stands on the rock above the rushing current and roars loudly.
Tiger Chart, Kishi koma (1749-1838), circa 1790-1838, Japan, vertical shaft, silk color, height 169.3 cm, width 114.6 cm
Historian Herodotus records that the army of the Persian king Xerxes, at least the camels in the army, was attacked by lions when they invaded Greece in the early 5th century BC. The number of lions in Europe has been decreasing, and the shaper of the strangely shaped bronze lion shown below has obviously not seen the lion with his own eyes, it has both nipples and male mane, and the back of its body is cocked like a dog, ready to pounce forward. The strangeness and inaccuracy of the body structure of the beasts in the works is attributed to the ignorance of the creators, but the distortion, humanization and separation of the environment are similar to the techniques used by artists to depict other kinds of animals, full of freedom.
Perhaps the most unique style is the depiction of specimens brought back by explorers. Soon after colonies were established on other continents, Europeans accurately recorded scientific images of a variety of creatures, from tiny invertebrates to ferocious reptiles. Although these samples are commendable, the animals are still unable to escape the artists' stereotypes, traditional creative methods, or ulterior motives. Elizabethan John White undoubtedly painted some of the animals he had encountered in the "New World" because he was interested in eating them. Still, many of his stunning paintings, such as the hermit crab below, convey an objective sense of curiosity—a desire to learn, not to eat. The hermit crab in the painting, in order to protect itself, is crawling into the empty shell of the mollusk. The word "Caracol" in the painting means "sea shell" in Spanish. While the realistic quest for eating was the driving force behind some of White's paintings, for the creatures shown here, he saw them as exotic rather than food. Of course, the hermit crab itself is not edible.
Purple Hermit Crab (or Land Hermit Crab), John W. White (c. 1540–1593), circa 1585–1593, England, graphite, watercolor, height 18.8 cm, width 15.5 cm
1. Big cats
For centuries, the virtues represented by lions have been attractive to artists, even if they live in countries that are 18,000 miles from the lion's habitat. This Romanesque door knocker from England adopts the image of a lion, which makes it appear noble and powerful. The lion on the door knocker has a human nose, eyebrows and beard, and the mane is rearranged for decorative purposes. Although the appearance of the lion is distorted, the resistance of the door, or at least the appearance, has been improved.
Lionhead, circa 1200, made in England, bronze, 37 cm in diameter
More than six hundred years later, the English painter James Ward painted the ferocity of lions. In his pen, the lion's body structure is accurate, but the scene of the picture is not very real. The dark, deep cave-like scene has a dreamy and magnificent style, but it is far from the African savannah. The lion's opponent is another big cat, and it and the lion will never meet in nature.
Lion Tiger Fight, James M. Ward (1769-1859), 1799, England, dot copperplate engraving, height 48.3 cm, width 60.7 cm
The ancient Greeks' perception of lions was somewhat inconsistent. This is not surprising, because in the eastern Mediterranean, lions have gradually disappeared in ancient times. The statue of the Lion of Nidos, located at the top of a cemetery monument on the coast of Asia Minor (Turkey), depicts the lion relatively accurately. Its eyes were originally inlaid with glass and could sparkle in the sun. When the monument was first built, the statue was certainly very eye-catching.
Giant lion statue, ancient Greece, 2nd century BC, excavated in Nidos, Turkey, marble, 182 cm high and 289 cm long
Maruyama created an equally shocking painting depicting a group of tigers crossing the river. He is known for his delicate observations of nature, but in painting this work, he had to use tiger skins and domestic cats as references to create a picture of a wild tiger.
Qunhu crossing the river, Maruyama Yingju (1733-1795), 1781-1782, Kyoto, Japan, six screens, color on paper, gold, height 153.5 cm, width 352.8 cm
John Keats' reference to Bacchus and his leopard in his Ode to the Nightingale is a common theme in ancient art and also had a profound influence on later European culture. In this mosaic from Halicarnassus, Bacchus, the god of wine, is dancing with a leopard with his Greek name, Dionysus. The Dionysian, produced by the Bow porcelain factory, sits on a large pet-like leopard and shows no signs of indulgence or wildness. Like dionysus in the mosaic, the porcelain statue of Dionysus wears a crown made of vines and appears to be feeding his partner. However, this is the end of the similarity between this porcelain statue and the ancient works of the same theme, or with the Keats script.
Dionysus and Leopard Mosaic, Ancient Rome, 4th century, found in Bodrum, Turkey, stone, height 140 cm, width 136 cm
Baby Dionysus riding a leopard, circa 1755, British "bow" porcelain factory, soft porcelain, height 14.7 cm
2. Specimens of explorers
John White first arrived at Sir Walter Raleigh's settlement in Virginia (part of present-day North Carolina) in 1585 and created one of the earliest known maps of american butterflies. Although White brought strange insect specimens back to England, he still accurately recorded the animals he encountered, mainly in watercolor.
Tiger Butterfly Painting, John White (c. 1540–1593), circa 1585–1593, England, graphite, watercolor, height 13.9 cm, width 19.8 cm
A century later, in 1699, the city of Amsterdam sponsored the artist and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian to conduct a scientific expedition to the Dutch colony of Suriname in South America. Two years later, she returned to the Netherlands and published the Atlas of Insect Metamorphosis in Suriname, which accurately depicts the various stages of a butterfly's life. Today, Merian is regarded as one of the pioneers of entomology.
Butterfly Painting, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), circa 1701–1705, Germany, watercolor, pen, black ink, height 36.1 cm, width 24.6 cm
Dorothea M. Dorothea Graff is the daughter of naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian. In two paintings, she depicts a caiman from South America and a blue-and-yellow parrot biting a coral snake. Although animal poses are common, she pays special attention to the animal's body structure, color, and fur texture when painting.
Caiman and the Red and Black Snake Fighting Diagram, (Biography) Dorothea Graff (1678–1743), circa 1701–1705, Germany, watercolor, pen, ink, height 30.6 cm, width 45.4 cm
Blue-yellow parrot diagram, (biography) Dorothea Graff (1678–1743), circa 1700–1710, German, watercolor, height 50 cm, width 36.4 cm
The crocodile in the Indian painting, like graff's caiman, bends its body into an exaggerated angle, but its image looks more unrealistic. The crocodile is a character in Gazi's adventures, and it and some of the other animals are objects of Gazi's superhuman control.
Gazi scroll (partial), circa 1800, Bengal or Murshidabad, India, painting on paper, 13 m long (volume length)
It is likely that John White saw flamingos in the Caribbean or the Bahamas on his way to an English settlement in Virginia. His watercolor paintings are revered by ornithologists for their meticulous depictions of bird feathers.
Flamingo, John A. White (c. 1540–1593), circa 1585–1593, England, graphite, watercolor, height 29.6 cm, width 19.7 cm
3. Strange animals
Eccentric animals with tusks and sharp horns inspired artists to create countless works, but in fact the creators often did not have access to them. Dürer heard that the King of Portugal had sacrificed a strange animal to the Pope, but had lost it in the sea not far from La Spezia. Inspired by this rumor, he created this rhino chart. The prototype of the rhino is a sketch by a merchant who was drawn when the rhino was transported from the East Indies to Lisbon. Dürer drew the rhino's head and horns as accurately as possible, but painted the rhino's limbs with reptile scales and the body with armor.
Rhinoceros, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), 1515, Germany, woodblock print, letterpress, height 21.2 cm, width 29.6 cm
The two elephant models were made by Japanese craftsmen and most likely referenced images from India. Compared with real animals, their eyes are more reminiscent of the craftsmen who made them. Fortunately, the Westerners who got the handicraft probably didn't care much about that. They were most interested in the exquisite craftsmanship of white glaze and glaze decoration, the color and smoothness of the white glaze that made the elephant look less bulky, adding to the charm of the entire statue.
A pair of elephant models, circa 1655-1670, Japanese Hizen "Arita Ware", porcelain, height 35 cm, width 42 cm (left), height 35 cm, width 43.5 cm (right)
Walruses live in the Arctic and are favored for their milky white tusks. They are sometimes found off the coast of Norway, but they are rarely found further south. For Dürer, who lives in the inland city of Nuremberg, the walrus is a strange animal. His watercolor looks fascinating, but the descriptive text he writes on it is somewhat absurd: "In 1521, that stupid guy... Captured in the Dutch Sea. It has four legs and is twelve herringers (1 el is equivalent to about 115 cm) long. ”
Dürer visited Holland between 1520 and 1521, but there is no record of walruses in his diary, and his paintings clearly contain only the heads of walruses. Two years earlier, a Norwegian bishop had pickled a walrus head and dedicated it to Pope Leo X, and there was an Indian rhinoceros in the Pope's collection. It looks like Dürer painted a pickled walrus head.
Walrus diagram, Albrecht Dürer, (1471-1528), 1521, Germany, pen, brown ink, height 21.1 cm, width 31.2 cm
The reputation of walruses is undoubtedly loud. Jan Luyken's work, which is a sea of turbulence, depicts the Arctic expeditions of the Dutchman Willem Barentsz from 1594 onwards, but this work is not a first-hand record of the voyage. In fact, the print is based on the biblical story of Jonah and the whale.
1594 (or 1596) Expedition to New Lands, by Jan Luken (1649–1712), circa 1679, Netherlands, etching, 27.2 cm high and 34.5 cm wide
By the 18th century, many exotic animals were kept in narrow, unobstructed cages, open to Europeans as public exhibitions. People flocked to the scene, and the scene was spectacular. The sight is interesting, as depicted in an Anon. satire of the 1770s: people and monkeys looking at each other wear the same clothes and wigs. The caption at the bottom of the picture reads: "Humans love to look at their portraits. ”
Wildlife Exhibition, Anon., 1774, England, hand-colored dot copperplate engraving, height 35 cm, width 25 cm
This engraving of a crocodile hunting crocodile and hippopotamus, modeled on Rubens' work, may also have wanted to show the ferocity of humans. Although the dark nature represented by hippos and crocodiles is restrained on the surface, the atmosphere of the whole picture is blurry and disturbing. When Rubens painted the hippopotamus, a classic animal figure on the Nile, he probably referred to the filled specimens he saw in Rome.
Hunting crocodiles and hippos, William Willem de Leeuw (1603 – c. 1665) imitated Peter Leeuw.) Paul S. Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), c. 1623–1624, Flanders, etched prints, height 46.5 cm, width 64.1 cm
Ostrich feathers and mockery of people who wear ostrich feathers are common features of both paintings. The title "Feathers Turn White in Fright" below suggests that the maids who stole the ornaments should "return the borrowed feathers," and the ostriches appearing in the painting remind us that they are the rightful owners of the feathers, not the masters of the maids. The depiction of ostriches in the Bible as animals lacking intelligence and understanding adds to the irony of the painting.
The feathers turned white in fright, imitating John F. Kennedy. John Collet (circa 1725–1780), 1777, England, hand-colored dot copperplate engraving, height 34.7 cm, width 25.1 cm
William Heath's prints continue this absurdity. The grotesque image of George IV and his mistress, Lady Corningham, contrast with the slender giraffe (formerly known as the moose). The giraffe was sent to England by the Egyptian Pasha in 1827. This giraffe ostensibly conveys a new "hobby" of humans, but in reality, as usual, it reflects the moral flaws of the humans it accompanies. Like the giraffe, Lady Corningham herself was a royal favorite.
Giraffe / New Hobby, William Heath (1794–1840), 1827, England, hand-colored etching, height 33.2 cm, width 22.4 cm
In late Victorian England, the Martin Brothers were known for their unique handmade ceramics. Their works are often tobacco cans or storage jars in the shape of eerie birds. The morphology of these birds is not only derived from native Species in the UK, but also refers to foreign bird species such as the vulture. The birds are endowed with human-like evil smiles, apparently based on real people. The effect of such a design is both frightening and ironic.
Weird Bird-Shaped Tobacco Can, Martin Brothers, 1882, London, England, ware, height 53.5 cm
British illustrator Alfred Henry Forrester is also committed to satirizing reality. The protagonist in the painting coldly supports his arm and leans against the window, as if he were an aristocrat in Renaissance portraiture. However, the protagonist, who gracefully holds a pipe and wears a woolen coat, is actually a monkey. It, like many ape characters, reflects our vanity and stupidity. After all, "fashion is nothing more than one imitation of another".
A monkey dressed as an adult, imitating Alfred Croquel (pen name, real name Alfred Henry Forrester, 1804/1805–1872), 1844, electric engraving, height 12 cm, width 10.5 cm
This article is from A Brief History of Animals at the British Museum
A Brief History of Animals and A Brief History of Mankind is one of the most famous art publishing houses in the British Museum and the world. Co-built by Thames & Hudson.
These two books have a great sense of weight. But he was just the right thickness, witty with a square folio, holding it felt particularly solid, but he wouldn't have the feeling of a tome. The inner page is matte copper plate [not easy to reflect the kind].
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