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Genevra Kornbluth.
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Last updated
August 20, 2023

Historical Archive: Fabulous Beasts

This list is alphabetical by creature.
For human-headed serpent, see Temptation and Fall.


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animal-headed humans: see also zooanthropomorphic evangelist symbols, grouped and individual, in Christian iconography. Here: bronze situla from the monastery of St. Alban, Mainz, 1116-19, HMP
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antlered tiger fr. Tuekta barrow 1, leather, Pazyryk culture 6th-5th c. BCE, Hermitage 2179-912
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Anubis from Villa Pamphili at Anzio, Parian marble, 1st-2nd c., Vat 22840. For additional views see Vatican Museums.
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Anubis, bronze, c.90-150, MNW 148140. For additional views see MNW.
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basilisk with Hercules and the Nemean lion, banded agate cameo, 13th c., DO 62.38. Basilisks have their own page.
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beast from the abyss (left), c.1363/65: Karlstejn Castle, Chapel of the Virgin Mary, which has its own own page.
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beast from the sea: Baptistery, cathedral of Padua, 1376 frescoes: Giusto de' Menabuoi. This work has its own pages.
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boars' heads-legged man: buckle fr. Åker, c.450-600, OHM C4901, which has its own page
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bull with man's head, steatite, Mesopotamia c.2150–2000 BCE, Louvre AO 2752. Bull-men have their own page.
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marine *bull: Rape of Europa? mosaic, c.50 BCE-200 CE, ANAM, which has its own page
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bowl with *bull horns, ears, eyes and lion mane, feet: Nagyszentmiklós treasure, gold, 750-800?, KHM VIIb. For more views and companion works see Nagyszentmiklós.
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bull-horned horses w lion feet: Chartres cathedral, north transept windows 1234-35. For more views see Chartres.
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butterfly woman grille, cast bronze, René Lalique 1899-1900, KGM 1901.111. For other views see Berlin.
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centaur drummer with flautist, copper alloy aquamanile, Hildesheim, c.1200-1250, HNM 1860.115. Centaurs have their own page.
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Chimaera with Bellerophon, architectural sculpture, late 2nd-early 3rd c. Dunapentele (Hungary), HNM 27.1903.1. For other views see HNM.
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Cock-headed anguipede, jasper intaglio, 1st-6th c., Kelsey 26054, Bonner 172
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cock-headed anguipede, jasper intaglio, 3rd c., Fitzwilliam. This work has its own page.
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crocodile god, bone seal matrix or stamp, from Soknopaiou (Dime, Egypt), prob. Roman period, KM 0000.02.1767. For another view see Kelsey
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dog/horse/lion/bird of prey aquamanile, copper alloy, mid 14th c. Germany, lion-head spouts later, KGM 1890,70. For other views see Berlin.
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double-headed creature, limestone baptismal font, Mosan c.1200, Schn K112, which has its own page
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dragon: Bernat Martorell, St. George, AIC 1933.786, which has its own page. Dragons have their own page.
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eagle with peacock tail and crest: fibula from Mainz; gold, enamel, and sapphire; c.1000; LMM O,1518. For another view see LMM.
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Geryon, wyvern/dragon/lion/scorpion/man: Cappella Strozzi di Mantova, Florence, Nardo di Cione 1354-57, which has its own page
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gryphon/griffin: fibula probably from Lens, Merovingian, Collection Guy Ladrière, Paris. Gryphons have their own page.
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harpy candlestick, bronze gilt, c.1150-1200 Trier, from Hajdúhadháza (Hungary), HNM 1892.105. For another view and other examples see the harpies page.
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hippocamp (sea horse), nautilus shell and metalwork, Elias Geyer, Leipzig 1590s, MAAB. Hippocamps have their own page.
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2-horse-headed figure, chalcedony intaglio, Late Archaic Greek c.500 BCE, Fitz. CG 518. This work has its own page.
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horses with lions' heads and serpent tails, c.1363/65: Karlstejn Castle, Chapel of the Virgin Mary, which has its own own page.
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lion-headed god, steatite intaglio, 1st-6th c., Kelsey 63.4.8, Bonner 99. Lion-headed creatures have their own page.
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locusts (Apocalypse): Baptistery, cathedral of Padua, 1376 frescoes: Giusto de' Menabuoi. This work has its own pages.
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Medusa, Roman crystal intaglio, Met 81.6.119. Gorgons have their own page.
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Mermaid, Edvard Munch 1896, oil on canvas shaped for space under rafters, PMA 2003-1-1. For another view and other mermaids see the Mermaids page.
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Minotaur with Theseus, architectural sculpture, Óbuda (Hungary) late 2nd c., HNM 129.1868.1
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monster: vise, iron, 15th c. Germany, PMA 1931-30-38a. Monsters have their own page.
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phoenix, stone/glass mosaic, 4th century, ANAM
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Rage (boar/goat/man?): Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Good and Bad Government 1338-40, Siena, which has its own page
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rhino-wolf: Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, Iran, mid 1520s-30s, Met 1970.301. This manuscript has its own page.
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scorpion-woman: Selket, protector of the dead, bronze, 1st millennium BCE Egypt, Pushkin
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sea goat (Capricorn), center right: unfinished Zodiac, marble, 2nd c. Roman, SMB AS SK1050. For oblique view see Berlin.
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sea goat (Capricorn): Apostles casket, ivory c.870, BNM MA 174-176, which has its own page
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sea goat (Capricorn), center left: Chartres west façade center 1140s-c.1150. For more views see Chartres.
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sea monster swallowing Jonah, marble, late 3rd c. central Turkey, CMA 1965.237. Sea monsters have their own page.
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sea unicorn: faience tile, Lille first half of 18th c., Lille Hospice Comtesse, which has its own page with architectural context. This work and related tiles have their own page.
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senmurv: molded stucco plaque, Chal Tarkhan, Iran, late 7th-early 8th c., BM 1973,0725.1
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senmurv or sea monster: Nagyszentmiklós treasure, gold, 750-800?, KHM VIIb. For more views and companion works see Nagyszentmiklós.
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senmurv: caftan, silk/fur, 9th c., Hermitage КЗ-6584, fr. Moshchevaya Balka, which has its own page with more examples
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senmurv, center: alb of Frederick Barbarossa, linen/silk brocade, c.1150, Utrecht OKM t91, which has its own page
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She-Guardian, Dashi Namdakov 2003, bronze, MSHM, which has its own page. Art object copyright: artist.
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sphinx with Oedipus, Roman niccolo agate intaglio on the Enger Reliquary, late 8th c., KGM. Sphinxes have their own page.
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2-headed toad handle on Chinese rock crystal seal, 1796, PMA 1944-20-14. For other views see PMA.
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triton: Projecta Casket, silver and gold, c.380, BM 1866,1229.1, which has its own page with another triton. Tritons and mermaids have their own page.
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unicorn: Annunciation polyptych fr. church St. Elizabeth Wrocław, tempera on wood, c.1480, MNW Śr. 124. This work has its own page. Unicorns have their own page.
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Wild Man, circle of Parler family, oak, late 14th century, Schn A47. For details see Cologne.
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winged cat: Yoshio Taylor (American, b. Okinawa 1948), Blue Cat, polychrome ceramic, 1996, IMA 2001.323. Art object copyright: artist/heirs. For other views see IMA.
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winged dog (bottom right): Lisbjerg Altar frontal/retable/arch c.1135-50, gilded copper, NMD D287. This work has its own page.
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winged horse and foal from Ober-Ingelheim Burgkirche, limestone, 8th c., LMM S3150. Winged horses have their own page.
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winged serpent on helmet: Gonzaga cameo, agate: 2 rulers, 3rd c. BCE or 1st c. BCE/CE, Hermitage ГP-19076, which has its own page
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wyvern (middle of right side), sea-dog, other monsters: front of an oak chest with heraldic and fantastic beasts, Lower Saxony c.1380, KGM 1884,1688. Wyverns and dragons have their own page.
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wyverns with human heads: Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, Jean Pucelle c.1324-28, Met 54.1.2, which has its own page.