Guess that Medieval Beast 4

         It’s time for Round 4 of everyone’s favorite game, and this time it’s a creature I’ve discussed in this blog before.  This illumination appears in a bestiary from 1270, from the J. Paul Getty Museum.  It certainly is a beautiful illustration, with its patterned borders and background, multicolored feathers, and touches of gold…  But what is it?  It has the basic body of a dog, wings like a bird, and it’s placed in something that looks more like a sculpture by Dale Chihuly than anything else (but I’ll give you a hint, in case you haven’t guessed: it’s a fire).  This is one of the creatures that is depicted in quite a broad variety of ways in different bestiaries, but this is nevertheless one of the standard visions.  So, what creature do you think this thirteenth century artist was trying to depict?

        Salamander!

        You can read my previous posts about the fantastical “facts” attributed to the salamander, and how the innocent amphibian got morphed into a mythological creature, here.  One of the things I find most interesting about the medieval depictions of the creature is that, unlike crocodiles or sea turtles, salamanders are perfectly common throughout Europe.  It seems as if enough people should have seen one to be able to recognize that in fact a salamander 

does not greatly resemble a winged dog.  However, for the bestiary illustrators, realism was not the greatest goal.  They were more 

concerned to follow conventions laid down by past “experts,” to present meaningful iconography, and to inspire a sense of wonder in a world of spiritual meaning.

        Let’s look at a selection of other medieval illustrations of salamanders.  You can see that they can have anywhere from 0 to 6 legs, plus wings; they can be furred or striped or smooth; they usually (but not always) have visible external ears; and they are sometimes depicted in trees (where they are supposed to poison the fruit) or going into wells (where they are supposed to poison the water).  The one really reliable trait in their illustrations is the fire.  Salamanders are almost always depicted with tongues of red flames about them.

[Pictures: Salamander, illumination from bestiary, 1270 (Image from J. Paul Getty Museum);

Salamanders, illumination from “Aberdeen Bestiary,” 1200 (Image from University of Aberdeen);

Salamanders, illumination from bestiary, c 1200-1210 (Image from the British Library);

Salamanders, illumination from bestiary, thirteenth century (Image from Biblitheque nationale de France);

Salamander, illumination from Der naturen bloeme by van Maerlant, 1350 (Image from Koninklijke Bibliotheek);

Salamander, illumination from bestiary, 1277 or after, (Image from Getty Museum).]