Page of Model book with animals by UNKNOWN MASTER, English in the Web Gallery of Art, a searchable image collection and database of European paintings and sculptures (1100-1850)

Pixel Size(721,1006)

Model book with animals

c. 1400
Ink on parchment
Pepys Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge

In addition to the fact that all the animals are observed without much attention to relative scale, the artist mixes up the real and the mythological realms by including a curly tailed dragon. While he might have copied the twisting lion/cat from an actual feline, his observation of dragons was probably taken from a tapestry or shield.