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Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World
A celebration of the visual contributions of the bestiary—one of the most popular types of illuminated books during the Middle Ages—and an exploration of its lasting legacy. Brimming with lively animals both real and fantastic, the bestiary was one of the great illuminated manuscript traditions of the Middle Ages. Encompassing imaginary creatures such as the unicorn, siren, and griffin; exotic beasts including the tiger, elephant, and ape; as well as animals native to Europe like the beaver, dog, and hedgehog, the bestiary is a vibrant testimony to the medieval understanding of animals and their role in the world. So iconic were the stories and images of the bestiary that its beasts essentially escaped from the pages, appearing in a wide variety of manuscripts and other objects, including tapestries, ivories, metalwork, and sculpture.
With over 270 color illustrations and contributions by twenty-five leading scholars, this gorgeous volume explores the bestiary and its widespread influence on medieval art and culture as well as on modern and contemporary artists like Pablo Picasso and Damien Hirst.
Published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center May 14 to August 18, 2019.
With over 270 color illustrations and contributions by twenty-five leading scholars, this gorgeous volume explores the bestiary and its widespread influence on medieval art and culture as well as on modern and contemporary artists like Pablo Picasso and Damien Hirst.
Published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center May 14 to August 18, 2019.
354 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 18, 2019
Books of Beasts is a scholarly examination of medieval texts called "bestiaries". These curious works consisted of lists of animals with accompanying pictures and traditional stories. Sometimes they were printed alongside other works, like the Bible, sometimes not.
Elizabeth Morrison and twenty six other medieval scholars assert that these were the second most popular texts in the medieval world. They weren't concerned with accuracy or science, part of the purpose of the books were to use creation as a window to contemplate the mysteries of God.
This particular book, Books of Beasts, was made to accompany a ground-breaking exhibition at The J. Paul Getty Museum. You can learn more about the exhibition here: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/...
"Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World" presents the largest number of medieval bestiaries ever gathered together, representing one third of the known surviving illuminated bestiaries, including some that have never before left their countries of origin."
The stunning portion of this book are the bestiaries themselves. The colors and the animals in their various tableau are simply beautiful. When you consider how old the artwork is, it's staggering that something that fragile has survived so long.
"Animals both real and fantastic parade by the dozens, and sometimes hundreds, across the pages of these remarkable works. Their stories were among the most familiar and beloved of the time, and many survive today, though their origins in medieval and earlier times have, sadly, been largely forgotten."
My favorite part of this book were the stories attached to the animals. Everyone in the medieval world knew them and so, when that animal appeared somewhere else say, for example, on a tapestry or dish, it was a hidden code of sorts, imparting meaning that the modern reader has never learned.
Consider the lion: "The natural philosophers say that the lion has three principal natures. His first nature is that he likes to walk on the mountain heights. And if it should happen that he is sought by hunters, the odor of the hunters reaches to him and with his tail he covers the trail of foot prints he left behind.... And thus our Savior... covered over the foot prints of his love in Heaven, until sent by the Father, he might descend into the womb of the Virgin Mary, and save the human race that was lost."
The lion was always presented first in the bestiaries and was given the name "the King of Beasts" not only for its position on the food chain but also for its association with Jesus Christ. These associations have bled over to today, and I had no idea that's where they came from.
Fascinating, isn't it?
But as interesting as the stories and images were, this book suffers from some serious academia-itis. The various scholars, the only experts on the topic in the world I'm sure, have different writing styles and some are far more palatable than others.
By the time I got to my fifth or sixth explanation why this text was related to that text and may or may not have come first, my brain was glazing over a little bit. Other sections read more like dissertations than material that someone would pick up for fun.
That criticism aside, the topic itself is absolutely worthy of investigation, if for nothing else than these stories that were, as one of the authors said, as popular as a "viral meme" that some of their meanings are still in use today. Isn't it cool how history haunts us in ways that we may be unaware of?
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free digital advance reader copy of this book. The projected publication date is in June 2019. The short quotations I cited in my review may change in the final version.
Elizabeth Morrison and twenty six other medieval scholars assert that these were the second most popular texts in the medieval world. They weren't concerned with accuracy or science, part of the purpose of the books were to use creation as a window to contemplate the mysteries of God.
This particular book, Books of Beasts, was made to accompany a ground-breaking exhibition at The J. Paul Getty Museum. You can learn more about the exhibition here: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/...
"Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World" presents the largest number of medieval bestiaries ever gathered together, representing one third of the known surviving illuminated bestiaries, including some that have never before left their countries of origin."
The stunning portion of this book are the bestiaries themselves. The colors and the animals in their various tableau are simply beautiful. When you consider how old the artwork is, it's staggering that something that fragile has survived so long.
"Animals both real and fantastic parade by the dozens, and sometimes hundreds, across the pages of these remarkable works. Their stories were among the most familiar and beloved of the time, and many survive today, though their origins in medieval and earlier times have, sadly, been largely forgotten."
My favorite part of this book were the stories attached to the animals. Everyone in the medieval world knew them and so, when that animal appeared somewhere else say, for example, on a tapestry or dish, it was a hidden code of sorts, imparting meaning that the modern reader has never learned.
Consider the lion: "The natural philosophers say that the lion has three principal natures. His first nature is that he likes to walk on the mountain heights. And if it should happen that he is sought by hunters, the odor of the hunters reaches to him and with his tail he covers the trail of foot prints he left behind.... And thus our Savior... covered over the foot prints of his love in Heaven, until sent by the Father, he might descend into the womb of the Virgin Mary, and save the human race that was lost."
The lion was always presented first in the bestiaries and was given the name "the King of Beasts" not only for its position on the food chain but also for its association with Jesus Christ. These associations have bled over to today, and I had no idea that's where they came from.
Fascinating, isn't it?
But as interesting as the stories and images were, this book suffers from some serious academia-itis. The various scholars, the only experts on the topic in the world I'm sure, have different writing styles and some are far more palatable than others.
By the time I got to my fifth or sixth explanation why this text was related to that text and may or may not have come first, my brain was glazing over a little bit. Other sections read more like dissertations than material that someone would pick up for fun.
That criticism aside, the topic itself is absolutely worthy of investigation, if for nothing else than these stories that were, as one of the authors said, as popular as a "viral meme" that some of their meanings are still in use today. Isn't it cool how history haunts us in ways that we may be unaware of?
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free digital advance reader copy of this book. The projected publication date is in June 2019. The short quotations I cited in my review may change in the final version.
July 16, 2019
Thanks to Heidi the Reader's advance review of this book I went to the Getty this last week to see the exhibit Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World that's showing there through August 18. So first I want to say: Thank you, Heidi!
It's impossible for me to separate my experience of reading this beautiful book with the experience of seeing room after room of bound parchment manuscripts, some as old as the thirteenth century, opened to pages of exquisite creativitiy and meticulous calligraphy. The color and line and imagination of the art on every page exhibited was mind-boggling. Most of all the exhibit gave me a sense that we haven't changed so very much--the imaginings of these anonymous artists made me feel very close to them on some levels. The biggest frustration with this amazing exhibit is that these books were meant to be held in one's hand, with each page accessible to the person holding it--the yearning for a tangible relationship with the books on display was overwhelming. This 2019 companion book to the exhibit is extraordinary in its beauty and erudition, and it allows me to get closer to understanding the actual works of art and imagination of the anonymous calligraphers and artists and book binders so many centuries ago. I was overwhelmed by the information in this text and also by the pleasing design of the book, which is bursting with color plates--it's a delight to read. That said you should go see the exhibit if you can.
It's impossible for me to separate my experience of reading this beautiful book with the experience of seeing room after room of bound parchment manuscripts, some as old as the thirteenth century, opened to pages of exquisite creativitiy and meticulous calligraphy. The color and line and imagination of the art on every page exhibited was mind-boggling. Most of all the exhibit gave me a sense that we haven't changed so very much--the imaginings of these anonymous artists made me feel very close to them on some levels. The biggest frustration with this amazing exhibit is that these books were meant to be held in one's hand, with each page accessible to the person holding it--the yearning for a tangible relationship with the books on display was overwhelming. This 2019 companion book to the exhibit is extraordinary in its beauty and erudition, and it allows me to get closer to understanding the actual works of art and imagination of the anonymous calligraphers and artists and book binders so many centuries ago. I was overwhelmed by the information in this text and also by the pleasing design of the book, which is bursting with color plates--it's a delight to read. That said you should go see the exhibit if you can.
June 4, 2019
I want to thank Netgalley and Getty Publications for providing a free e-book copy for my true and honest opinion.
Words cannot explain how excited I was when I was approved to get this book. I love books that accompany exhibitions and because I won't be able to see the actual exhibition; it was amazing to get this (p.s The exhibition is on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center May 14 to August 18, 2019.)
This book is beautiful! It has 270 colour illustrations and well-written collection of essays by twenty-five experts. The essays focuses bestiary and its widespread influence on medieval art and culture. It is fascinating look at the sub-genre of medieval manuscripts. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is fascinated or interested in Medieval history or just a history buff.
5 stars
Words cannot explain how excited I was when I was approved to get this book. I love books that accompany exhibitions and because I won't be able to see the actual exhibition; it was amazing to get this (p.s The exhibition is on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center May 14 to August 18, 2019.)
This book is beautiful! It has 270 colour illustrations and well-written collection of essays by twenty-five experts. The essays focuses bestiary and its widespread influence on medieval art and culture. It is fascinating look at the sub-genre of medieval manuscripts. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is fascinated or interested in Medieval history or just a history buff.
5 stars
July 13, 2019
A lovely catalog of most common animals/beasts in medieval bestiaries. Sometimes it gets a bit uninteresting, but mostly it kept my attention.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 28, 2019
An indispensable volume for the study of bestiaries and their role in the medieval world. While I personally didn’t find it to be riveting casual reading, it still had immense amount of information that, had I been writing a paper on the topic, this would have been a great source.
The book contains essays covering the variations in bestaries throughout the medieval era, as well as covering how creatures from the bestaries ended up in other works of art, like architecture, sculpture, and maps. An epilogue about the bestiary in the modern world shows that our interest in illustrating animals in a unique way or to make an allegorical point is still as strong as it was in the middle ages.
While I did end up skimming many of the essays in the first section, since I simply found them a bit too specific and academically focused for a casual read, I still gleaned some interesting info (e.g. many bestaries were not illustrated, some were supplemental inserts to religious works, lions always start off bestaries). The essays in the “Beyond the Bestary” section were the most interesting to me and correlated more with my interests (e.g. beasties on maps!!).
The catalogue of the exhibition is interspersed throughout the essays, rather than being fully contained in its own section. However, the sectioning of the catalog does correlate with the essays and is helpful for showing how bestaries evolved and how they built off of prior versions. I did find some that I was always wanting more visual references to the works referenced, so the few pictures from each work featured just didn’t give me the full picture I was hoping for. Again, for a scholarly purpose, the info likely would be enough, but for an introduction to bestaries, I think an abundance of visuals are more helpful.
Had I been more interested in the text of bestiaries, rather than the illustrations/art and natural history aspect of the, this would have likely been an amazing read for me. However, if I lived closer to the museum, I would definitely visit to see these works in person! The catalog of the exhibition included in the book looks highly diverse in illustration styles and types of beasts, so I think it’s something that just needs to be seen and analyzed independently.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
The book contains essays covering the variations in bestaries throughout the medieval era, as well as covering how creatures from the bestaries ended up in other works of art, like architecture, sculpture, and maps. An epilogue about the bestiary in the modern world shows that our interest in illustrating animals in a unique way or to make an allegorical point is still as strong as it was in the middle ages.
While I did end up skimming many of the essays in the first section, since I simply found them a bit too specific and academically focused for a casual read, I still gleaned some interesting info (e.g. many bestaries were not illustrated, some were supplemental inserts to religious works, lions always start off bestaries). The essays in the “Beyond the Bestary” section were the most interesting to me and correlated more with my interests (e.g. beasties on maps!!).
The catalogue of the exhibition is interspersed throughout the essays, rather than being fully contained in its own section. However, the sectioning of the catalog does correlate with the essays and is helpful for showing how bestaries evolved and how they built off of prior versions. I did find some that I was always wanting more visual references to the works referenced, so the few pictures from each work featured just didn’t give me the full picture I was hoping for. Again, for a scholarly purpose, the info likely would be enough, but for an introduction to bestaries, I think an abundance of visuals are more helpful.
Had I been more interested in the text of bestiaries, rather than the illustrations/art and natural history aspect of the, this would have likely been an amazing read for me. However, if I lived closer to the museum, I would definitely visit to see these works in person! The catalog of the exhibition included in the book looks highly diverse in illustration styles and types of beasts, so I think it’s something that just needs to be seen and analyzed independently.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
June 3, 2019
Pros: lots of gorgeous full colour illustrations, essays on a variety of topics, thorough discussion on the evolution of bestiaries
Cons: some of the essays are dense
This is the guide that accompanies the exhibition “Book of Beasts” at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The exhibit runs from May 14th to August 18th. (http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/...)
The book is divided into three parts. Part one is an introduction plus images and text for the 15 best known bestiary animals. Part two: Exploring the Bestiary is subdivided into The Bestiary in form and function (consisting of 6 essays and the first 28 catalogue listings) and The Bestiary Reimagined (two essays and 5 listings). Part three: Beyond the Bestiary is again subdivided, with catalogue listings after each essay. It’s sections are: Church and Court (3 essays) and Bestiaries and Natural History (4 essays). The epilogue is followed by the final catalogue listings and four appendices.
I found the first few essays of part 2 boring due to their dry and somewhat dense prose. There’s a fair amount of repetition in that most of these essays opened with similar background paragraphs on Bestiaries and their origins in the Greek book Physiologus. For me, the most interesting essay of this section was “Accommodating Antlers, Making Room for Hedgehogs, and Other Problems of Page Design in the Medieval Bestiary”. It was interesting learning how scribes and illustrators may have been working from different manuscripts and so their work didn’t always line up.
The later essays were much more interesting, both in style an content. There’s less minutiae about the manuscripts making them more accessible and I enjoyed learning new things about how bestiaries influenced other forms of art like maps and sculptures. I also appreciated that there were separate essays on Jewish and Muslim uses of animals in manuscripts. Those essays all felt too short, given the amount of information being discussed.
I liked that there are occasional ‘notes to the reader’ explaining some of the terms so that even those who haven’t studied manuscripts can understand the more scholarly language used. The notes for catalogue listings generally mentioned if a manuscript has been fully or partially digitized and is available online for further study. Unfortunately these notes are in such small text I’m afraid some readers will miss this information.
Catalogue images are all reproduced in colour and there was a good variety. I loved seeing the evolution of the genre and how the stories were reinterpreted in later works. I was surprised that some of the images were duplicated though. A page would be used to illustrate an essay and than that same page would be one of the images used to illustrated the catalogue listing for that manuscript. Given the fact that each manuscript only got one or two images, I would have expected different pages to be used each time in order to maximize the number of different images shown.
If you’re new to bestiaries this is an excellent primer, though you’ll have to work a bit to understand some of the terms. For those with some knowledge, it will increase it and suggest other works to examine. If you’re well versed in the subject the later essays don’t go far enough to suggest new avenues of study, though the earlier ones do an excellent job of showing what scholarship has been done and what still needs examination.
This looks like an excellent exhibit and I wish I could attend and see all of these manuscripts and artworks in person.
Cons: some of the essays are dense
This is the guide that accompanies the exhibition “Book of Beasts” at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The exhibit runs from May 14th to August 18th. (http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/...)
The book is divided into three parts. Part one is an introduction plus images and text for the 15 best known bestiary animals. Part two: Exploring the Bestiary is subdivided into The Bestiary in form and function (consisting of 6 essays and the first 28 catalogue listings) and The Bestiary Reimagined (two essays and 5 listings). Part three: Beyond the Bestiary is again subdivided, with catalogue listings after each essay. It’s sections are: Church and Court (3 essays) and Bestiaries and Natural History (4 essays). The epilogue is followed by the final catalogue listings and four appendices.
I found the first few essays of part 2 boring due to their dry and somewhat dense prose. There’s a fair amount of repetition in that most of these essays opened with similar background paragraphs on Bestiaries and their origins in the Greek book Physiologus. For me, the most interesting essay of this section was “Accommodating Antlers, Making Room for Hedgehogs, and Other Problems of Page Design in the Medieval Bestiary”. It was interesting learning how scribes and illustrators may have been working from different manuscripts and so their work didn’t always line up.
The later essays were much more interesting, both in style an content. There’s less minutiae about the manuscripts making them more accessible and I enjoyed learning new things about how bestiaries influenced other forms of art like maps and sculptures. I also appreciated that there were separate essays on Jewish and Muslim uses of animals in manuscripts. Those essays all felt too short, given the amount of information being discussed.
I liked that there are occasional ‘notes to the reader’ explaining some of the terms so that even those who haven’t studied manuscripts can understand the more scholarly language used. The notes for catalogue listings generally mentioned if a manuscript has been fully or partially digitized and is available online for further study. Unfortunately these notes are in such small text I’m afraid some readers will miss this information.
Catalogue images are all reproduced in colour and there was a good variety. I loved seeing the evolution of the genre and how the stories were reinterpreted in later works. I was surprised that some of the images were duplicated though. A page would be used to illustrate an essay and than that same page would be one of the images used to illustrated the catalogue listing for that manuscript. Given the fact that each manuscript only got one or two images, I would have expected different pages to be used each time in order to maximize the number of different images shown.
If you’re new to bestiaries this is an excellent primer, though you’ll have to work a bit to understand some of the terms. For those with some knowledge, it will increase it and suggest other works to examine. If you’re well versed in the subject the later essays don’t go far enough to suggest new avenues of study, though the earlier ones do an excellent job of showing what scholarship has been done and what still needs examination.
This looks like an excellent exhibit and I wish I could attend and see all of these manuscripts and artworks in person.
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February 8, 2025?
January 27, 2023
This is a really high quality book with great illustrations. It's a quick and easy read and will supply you all the anecdotes you need to be weird at parties.
April 27, 2020
Books of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World brings together the ‘largest number of medieval bestiaries ever’ [vii] exploring creation, existence and legacy of the bestiary. This should be the opening to a thrilling text, but I was quickly moved to disappointment as the note to the readers announces that all ‘illuminators, scribes and other artists’ [xiv] will be referred to with male pronouns. This is an ignorant choice as their is a vast amount of literature on the contributions of women to medieval illumination. The deliberate erasure of their efforts in a modern text – particularly one accompanying an exhibition – is infuriatingly ignorant. They is a convenient neutral pronoun, use it.
The text then allows us to discover the fifteen most ‘compelling animals’ [9] within the medieval bestiary which was bright and exciting, but all too soon we move into a series of tangential essays. The first two are rather inaccessible, which would be off putting to a newcomer to the subject. I’m well seasoned and I struggled – when will people remember that research and academia are supposed to be fun and engaging? The third essay, however, is fantastic and an absolute asset to the book! I do hope that Elizabeth Morrison publishes ‘Accommodating Antlers, Making Room for Hedgehogs and Other Problems of Page Design in the Medieval Bestiary’ as an essay that’s easily sourced. The following essays failed to match ‘Accommodating Antlers’ in terms of content and style, but they were a definite improvement on the first two.
In the successive essays, there is a shift in the presentation and the text becomes smaller and shifts from a wide layout to being formatted in columns. Personally, I found that this resulted in it being difficult to follow the text and I would often lose where I was as I was reading an e-pub. I would have preferred for the format to remain consistent as this would heighten the value.
The bestiary maps injected joy back into my reading experience and were beyond fascinating! There was also a short section on calligrams (text turned to a thematically similar/related image) which was wonderful as it’s not often that you come across these.
The epilogue was somewhat disjointed and would have benefitted from fully integrating the art with the text as it discussed modern examples of bestiaries in various art forms.
Overall, Book of Beasts falls short at almost every hurdle. If it could have settled on a tone, academic level, and presentation style, it would have had a much more cohesive feel. That said, the images were excellent and cannot be faulted, this book becomes a treasure trove thanks to them. Revisits to the book would definitely be based on the images rather than the text.
*I received a free copy of this via NetGalley for review*
The text then allows us to discover the fifteen most ‘compelling animals’ [9] within the medieval bestiary which was bright and exciting, but all too soon we move into a series of tangential essays. The first two are rather inaccessible, which would be off putting to a newcomer to the subject. I’m well seasoned and I struggled – when will people remember that research and academia are supposed to be fun and engaging? The third essay, however, is fantastic and an absolute asset to the book! I do hope that Elizabeth Morrison publishes ‘Accommodating Antlers, Making Room for Hedgehogs and Other Problems of Page Design in the Medieval Bestiary’ as an essay that’s easily sourced. The following essays failed to match ‘Accommodating Antlers’ in terms of content and style, but they were a definite improvement on the first two.
In the successive essays, there is a shift in the presentation and the text becomes smaller and shifts from a wide layout to being formatted in columns. Personally, I found that this resulted in it being difficult to follow the text and I would often lose where I was as I was reading an e-pub. I would have preferred for the format to remain consistent as this would heighten the value.
The bestiary maps injected joy back into my reading experience and were beyond fascinating! There was also a short section on calligrams (text turned to a thematically similar/related image) which was wonderful as it’s not often that you come across these.
The epilogue was somewhat disjointed and would have benefitted from fully integrating the art with the text as it discussed modern examples of bestiaries in various art forms.
Overall, Book of Beasts falls short at almost every hurdle. If it could have settled on a tone, academic level, and presentation style, it would have had a much more cohesive feel. That said, the images were excellent and cannot be faulted, this book becomes a treasure trove thanks to them. Revisits to the book would definitely be based on the images rather than the text.
*I received a free copy of this via NetGalley for review*
April 18, 2019
A fine example of just how good exhibition-accompanying volumes can be when they are done correctly.
The Getty's Book of Beasts takes a well-organized and erudite look at this fascinating sub-genre of medieval manuscripts, which are also the subject of the museum's upcoming exhibition.
The structure and organization of the volume are well above average, the disbursement of the plates amid the text being notably better than usual as well. Some visual elements of the book are difficult to rate using a digital ARC (some page-spacing issues and greyed out text which I expect will not present in published copies).
The included essays were a bit of a mixed bag. While none are poorly done or problematic, there are certainly some which present better than others. Notably exceptional standouts include Elizabeth Morrison's essay on problems in page design, Larisa Grollemond's piece on beasts at court, and Debra Higgs Strickland's work on the bestiary in medieval world maps.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
The Getty's Book of Beasts takes a well-organized and erudite look at this fascinating sub-genre of medieval manuscripts, which are also the subject of the museum's upcoming exhibition.
The structure and organization of the volume are well above average, the disbursement of the plates amid the text being notably better than usual as well. Some visual elements of the book are difficult to rate using a digital ARC (some page-spacing issues and greyed out text which I expect will not present in published copies).
The included essays were a bit of a mixed bag. While none are poorly done or problematic, there are certainly some which present better than others. Notably exceptional standouts include Elizabeth Morrison's essay on problems in page design, Larisa Grollemond's piece on beasts at court, and Debra Higgs Strickland's work on the bestiary in medieval world maps.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
June 3, 2019
A fascinating look at the history behind the bestiary, which is a specific form of early illustrated manuscript.
In each bestiary, readers found gorgeous illustrations of a wide variety of beasts - both real and imagined - along with a lot of religious moralizing and so-called scientific information of a highly dubious nature. For example, many people still believe the myth that elephants don’t have knee joints (or knees at all), which is easily traced back to these books, as is the false statement that elephants don’t lie down.
Prepared to accompany a museum exhibit, this book displays hundreds of illustrations, along with a translation of the original text. At times humorous, absurd, and infuriating, these early works show many misunderstandings of nature and life. They also capture a lot of bigotry and tend to show any “villains” with dark faces. The example of apes is particularly disturbing in its very thinly veiled reference to people of color.
As a museum book filled with commentary from experts, Book of Beasts occasionally gets a bit lost in the weeds with details that may have been better saved for the reference section at the back of the book. Anyone who is secular may also have a difficult time slogging through some of the antiquated religious references, although they were interesting/amusing at times and do have a lot of historical significance.
Overall, the illustrations, history, and painstakingly detailed allegories make this book very worthwhile. Even if you simply look at the illustrations, you’ll still find a lot of entertainment value.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.
In each bestiary, readers found gorgeous illustrations of a wide variety of beasts - both real and imagined - along with a lot of religious moralizing and so-called scientific information of a highly dubious nature. For example, many people still believe the myth that elephants don’t have knee joints (or knees at all), which is easily traced back to these books, as is the false statement that elephants don’t lie down.
Prepared to accompany a museum exhibit, this book displays hundreds of illustrations, along with a translation of the original text. At times humorous, absurd, and infuriating, these early works show many misunderstandings of nature and life. They also capture a lot of bigotry and tend to show any “villains” with dark faces. The example of apes is particularly disturbing in its very thinly veiled reference to people of color.
As a museum book filled with commentary from experts, Book of Beasts occasionally gets a bit lost in the weeds with details that may have been better saved for the reference section at the back of the book. Anyone who is secular may also have a difficult time slogging through some of the antiquated religious references, although they were interesting/amusing at times and do have a lot of historical significance.
Overall, the illustrations, history, and painstakingly detailed allegories make this book very worthwhile. Even if you simply look at the illustrations, you’ll still find a lot of entertainment value.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.
April 19, 2019
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Book of Beasts The Bestiary in the Medieval World is a new catalog guide to accompany an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty museum on medieval bestiaries. Due out 4th June 2019 from Getty Publications, it's 354 pages and will be available in hardcover format.
This is a lavishly illustrated volume with well written subject essays by well known scholars of medieval art. The exhibition contributor list reads like a who's who of world renowned collections including the Bodleian, the V&A, Bibliothèque nationale de France, The Fitzwilliam, the Royal Danish Library, and many many others.
This volume would make a good addition for students of medieval art, calligraphers, illuminators, artists, art lovers, and students of ecclesiastical Latin and Greek. It is written in a meticulous and scholarly style, but as a layperson I had no problems understanding and learning from the included essays. The majority of the illustrations are western/Latin texts, but there are a few from eastern sources as well.
The exhibition is scheduled to run at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from May 14 to August 18, 2019.
Five stars, this is a sterling exhibition catalog and will have value long after the exhibit is over.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Book of Beasts The Bestiary in the Medieval World is a new catalog guide to accompany an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty museum on medieval bestiaries. Due out 4th June 2019 from Getty Publications, it's 354 pages and will be available in hardcover format.
This is a lavishly illustrated volume with well written subject essays by well known scholars of medieval art. The exhibition contributor list reads like a who's who of world renowned collections including the Bodleian, the V&A, Bibliothèque nationale de France, The Fitzwilliam, the Royal Danish Library, and many many others.
This volume would make a good addition for students of medieval art, calligraphers, illuminators, artists, art lovers, and students of ecclesiastical Latin and Greek. It is written in a meticulous and scholarly style, but as a layperson I had no problems understanding and learning from the included essays. The majority of the illustrations are western/Latin texts, but there are a few from eastern sources as well.
The exhibition is scheduled to run at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from May 14 to August 18, 2019.
Five stars, this is a sterling exhibition catalog and will have value long after the exhibit is over.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
May 4, 2019
A strong four stars for this, although that does only apply for those willing to jump on board for academic purposes; this from the point of view of the average man on the average commuting vehicle will be too high-falutin' (as the RRP implies). It is an eye-opener, however, as regards the mediaeval bestiary, and all that it held, from routine portrayals of cats, dogs and elephants with ridiculous trunks, to the very mythical indeed. The benefits of this book are clear to see for anyone with an interest in art, for many of the illustrations prove how wonderfully illustrated and illuminated these manuscripts were. As for the text, we see academics posit who was writing these things, who was translating them into the vernacular, who was paying for their production, whether the pictures came before the text or the other way round, and many much more erudite things. The captions to many of the catalogue elements make for very repetitive reading, but they do put you as close as possible to what is the world's biggest, if not indeed only, major exhibition of bestiary art, that the Getty is hosting for the summer of 2019. And when you've learnt for the thousandth time that something proves the thinking behind the bestiary was seen elsewhere, the final essays bring us up to date with modern art and art book publishing variants of the theme. Thoroughly comprehensive, if perhaps missing out on glorying in the great farting wonder that is the bonnacon, this is a must-buy for anyone connected with this subject of study.
July 7, 2019
Thanks to Getty Publications and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is an absolutely lovely book and my only regret is that I will not be able to see the exhibition it accompanies.
Contained within are beautiful images drawn by Medieval artists of animals (both real and mythical) and other subjects. It's perhaps clear that the artists never saw some of these animals, and the illustrations are often fanciful at best but are all the more interesting and fun for it. The colours and details are reproduced in stunning detail and the book is laid out in a coherent and engaging way.
The history and context is provided in an interesting and engaging way but may slant too much towards the academic for some. Despite the level of detail and sources provided, the editors of this book have let the pictures take centre stage.
Overall, a gorgeous book with stunning imagery. Yes, some of them are amusing to the modern eye (that whale, come oooooon) they are all the more charming for it.
This is an absolutely lovely book and my only regret is that I will not be able to see the exhibition it accompanies.
Contained within are beautiful images drawn by Medieval artists of animals (both real and mythical) and other subjects. It's perhaps clear that the artists never saw some of these animals, and the illustrations are often fanciful at best but are all the more interesting and fun for it. The colours and details are reproduced in stunning detail and the book is laid out in a coherent and engaging way.
The history and context is provided in an interesting and engaging way but may slant too much towards the academic for some. Despite the level of detail and sources provided, the editors of this book have let the pictures take centre stage.
Overall, a gorgeous book with stunning imagery. Yes, some of them are amusing to the modern eye (that whale, come oooooon) they are all the more charming for it.
June 16, 2019
Exceptionally rich and gorgeusly illustrated book with many essays from various authors mostly about medieval bestiaries, including also depictions of real or fantastic animals in modern ages. Lions, tigers, beavers, foxes, whales, apes, etc., but also dragons, unicorns, griffins, sirens, centaurs, "cosmic" animals. Images that you can rarely see elsewhere, very interesting ones (for example Alexander the Great in a kind of submarine meets a whale) and sometimes also funny (for example the bonnacon that uses its fart as weapon or the elephant depicted obviously by someone that has never seen one). The images are accompanied by explanations and also the moralisations the authors of the original bestiaries attached to them (Christ simbolized by the unicorn, the pelican, etc.).
August 7, 2019
Not for the casual reader. If you're a scholar of bestiaries then all the talk of what manuscripts are possibly related and the hypotheticals of their creation should fascinate you. If, like me, you simply had an idle curiosity about bestiaries, you will struggle to slog through about 2/3rds of this book (it felt like I was reading it for half a year at least).
I received a digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.
I received a digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.
July 7, 2019
A lovely and fun collection of the creatures that adorn medieval manuscripts, tapestries, and other media. A great source for teachers, artists (including needleworkers, stained class-makers, and sculptors in addition to the more obvious illustrators), and writers and gamers. The context and explanations for the different mythological and real animals is useful and interesting.
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January 20, 2022704.9432 J115 2019
May 24, 2023
Used extensively for my research paper on the Aberdeen Bestiary for Medieval Art History with Stacy Moo. Read in my free time as well because bestiaries are just So Cool!!!!!
March 8, 2024
So freaking awesome. What we are missing in the modern age is agreed upon Christological allegories for every single animal, plus a moral lesson to be learned from their (imaginary) behavior
June 24, 2024
The pictures are fantastic. And even though scholarly and academic, the writing was accessible and interesting to me.
June 10, 2020
This is not a bestiary, but rather a scholarly examination of the history of some medieval bestiaries and their influence on the world. The writing in this book is extremely dense with information and often gets rather boring. I was expecting more of a collection of bestiaries, rather than scholarly debates and theories. I was also unimpressed with the quality of the photographs taken, the angles are off-center in a way that looks more amateur than artful.
I'm sure this is a brilliant book for those who are looking to examine the historical importance of medieval bestiaries, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I had anticipated.
eARC provided by Getty Publications via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. RTC!
I'm sure this is a brilliant book for those who are looking to examine the historical importance of medieval bestiaries, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I had anticipated.
eARC provided by Getty Publications via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. RTC!
August 17, 2019
A great book for those who like manuscripts or Medical history. Looks at images from a few book or pages from Christian, Islam and Judaism sources. So you do get a range of looks and how the images are incorporated into the whole page or with words. A nice beginning to the animals and beasts in Medical sources.
April 17, 2019
This book has some issues with formatting at the moment and I was unable to get the whole thing t open properly. Please note I was given an ARC so this issue will be fixed.
The pages I could view were beautiful, with excellent information and anecdotes about each image.
The pages I could view were beautiful, with excellent information and anecdotes about each image.
May 13, 2019
A wonderful collection of essays to accompany a museum exhibit. There is a wealth of information in these pages that will keep readers turning the page and wanting more.
Thank you NetGalley and Getty Publications for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.
Thank you NetGalley and Getty Publications for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.
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