Physiologus Theobaldi Episcopi de Naturis Duodecim Animalium (Bishop Theobald's Bestiary of Twelve Animals)
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- Title
Physiologus Theobaldi Episcopi de Naturis Duodecim Animalium (Bishop Theobald's Bestiary of Twelve Animals)
- Artist
- Related People
publisher: Indiana University Press (American, active 20th-21st centuries)
- Date
1964
- Medium
portfolio with 12 lithographs and 10 woodcuts on cream wove paper; housed in a clamshell box
- Edition
35/325
- Collection Area
Graphic Arts
- Category
Books, Portfolios, and Manuscripts
Prints
- Object Type
portfolio
- Culture
American
- Credit Line
Bequest of Dr. Francis J. Newton
- Accession Number
2009.5.96
- Copyright
© unknown, research required
- Terms
Bestiaries are books that describe and illustrate animals, while also providing moral instruction. During the Middle Ages, bestiaries were immensely popular and grew out of the notion that the natural world had been arranged by God to instruct humanity, as described in the book of Job: "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?" (Job 12:7–9).
Bishop Theobald's (11th century; abbot of Monte Cassino, Rome, 1022-1035) bestiary was one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages. For the modern version, the publisher combined Rudy Pozzatti's animals with a new translation of the text by poet Willis Barnstone.
- Exhibitions
2013 Artist & Book: 100 Years Portland Art Museum
