![]() ![]() These largely come under the category of ‘Drolleries’ or ‘Grotesques’. There are a great many strange things that can be seen in medieval illuminated manuscripts: weird human-animal hybrids, distorted monsters and odd scenes. That still doesn’t answer the question of the violent bunny rabbit, though. The reasons are pretty damn simple: we’ll talk about fur and burrows, and leave it at that. In the same way as the name of a male chicken has long been associated with the male member (there are some very instructive statues on the island of Delos that date back as far as 4BC), there’s no mistake that the Anglo-French word for rabbit (“conil”) metamorphed into the 14 th century word coney, and the Spanish root word for rabbit, conejo (which is pronounced almost exactly the same as the rather perjorative modern word coño) metamorphosed into a term for the lady’s area. The other association of the rabbit is more commonly known – that of fertility. The usual imagery of the rabbit in Medieval art is that of purity and helplessness – that’s why some Medieval portrayals of Christ have marginal art portraying a veritable petting zoo of innocent, nonviolent, little white and brown bunnies going about their business in a field. The image of cute little bunny rabbits doing horrible violence to people is strangely adorable – watching the twitchy nosed little guys beat the hell out of people who’d normally have then for dinner with Rosemary, thyme and sage – but it does beg a simple question: what the hell is going on? 459ĭetail from a full border of a monkey playing a game (possibly blowing bubbles?), from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f.Images like these have been very popular on the internet recently, with this listicle from The Poke giving some great examples of the genre, as well as the great Sexy Codicology website, and a lot of fantastic accounts on Twitter. 421vĭetail from a full border of a monkey wearing a cowl spinning thread, from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f. 419vĭetail from a full border of a monkey with a basket trying to capture a bird, from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f. 270ĭetail from a full border of a monkey playing bagpipes, from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f. 96ĭetail from a full border of a monkey looking at itself in a mirror, from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f. 77ĭetail from a full border of a monkey tending to the vinework that surrounds it, watched by a bird, from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f. ![]() We would be interested to hear your thoughts on this remarkable group a few examples can be seen below.ĭetail from a full border of a monkey tending to the vinework that surrounds it, from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f. Isabella's monkeys, for example, can be seen playing the bagpipes and playing games, capturing wildlife, hunting, spinning, eating and drinking, and even tending to the upkeep of the borders in which they dwell. Monkeys appear regularly across the Breviary's 523 folios, and (like a lot of medieval simians) they are usually shown engaging in recognizably 'human' activities. Most of these borders contain beautifully naturalistic paintings of plants and animals, including a remarkable number of monkeys. There is much to recommend this magnificent manuscript, produced in Bruges in the late 1480s and illustrated by the foremost artists of its day, but particularly noteworthy are the many strew and foliate borders which surround the text and miniatures. The Breviary was created for Queen Isabella of Castile (1451-1504), and was the manuscript featured in our 2011 calendar series (see here for January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December). If you happen to be in the mood for a bit of weekend whimsy (and who isn't?), we would like to draw your attention once again to the British Library's 'Isabella Breviary'. Detail from a full strew border of a monkey playing bagpipes, from the Isabella Breviary, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), late 1480s and before 1497, British Library, Additional 18851, f. ![]()
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