In this study we are primarily concerned with the pictorial tradition of the bestiaries, and within this tradition mainly with the imagery of those luxury bestiaries that were widespread in England in the 12th and 13th centuries. Of course, the pictorial tradition can hardly be separated from the textual tradition of the bestiaries and the earlier Physiologus; rather, when examining the pictorial program, we must also keep the history of the textual tradition in mind so that the close relationships between literary and pictorial tradition can be investigated. The fact that most publications are primarily interested in literary questions and not in art historical ones unfortunately makes iconographic research just as difficult as the fact that the pictorial material, if it has been published at all, is often only available in difficult-to-access, exclusive facsimile publications. ... a more detailed study of these medieval animal illustrations seems worthwhile to me. Firstly, the relationship between humans and animals is an area that has repeatedly occupied visual artists of all times and inspired them to achieve masterpieces. The Middle Ages are no exception here, and the beauty of the bestiary illustrations has appealed to us directly over the centuries. In addition, it is also clear how strongly all research and design in the medieval world had an indirect or direct connection to church doctrine; tracing such connections in the area of animal books seemed more fruitful to me than a mere stylistic and chronological classification of the image program - [Author]

Language: German