Slow Looking at Object

The artifacts are all related as they all originated from the time period spanning from the 13th to 14th century. This miniature (London, The British Library, Royal 19 B XV, fol. 22v) depicts five men battling a dragon. The dragon has eight heads in total, with one of them on his tail. The dragon is drawn with talons, wings, a tail and breathing fire as many dragons did in old english texts. The dragon does not seem to have scaly skin as arrows were able to wound it. This is a clear parallel to the dragon in The Shahnameh being defeated by arrows. The dragon being wounded further reinforces the idea that dragons possess weaknesses that humans can exploit. The five men battling the dragon possess various weapons, including, bows, swords, lances, and shields. Further, there is an angel at the top which seems to be blessing the men in their fight against the dragon. This miniature comes from a manuscript called the Queen Mary Apocalypse and it is written in Anglo-Norman French on a parchment codex (Laing 1971, 1) . The date of origin is approximately the early 14the century and it originated from London, England. However, the original owner and the precise date of the manuscript is not known (Laing 1971, 1). The manuscript contains the text of the Apocalyptic visions of St. John (Laing 1971, 3). It is believed that the text was translated from Latin into French and became the texts for many English manuscripts (Laing 1971, 3). 

This miniature (London, The British Library, Harley 4751, fol. 58v)  depicts a dragon attacking an elephant. The dragon seems to be attacking the elephant through strangulation. It does not seem to have powerful teeth, talons or wings as other dragons are depicted. Rather, the dragon seems snake-like, with a long body and scaly skin. In many ancient texts, the terms ‘dragon’ and ‘snake’ are used interchangeably and are often a part of the same symbology (Pierce 2015). The elephant has very long tusks, which is  a good indicator that the elephant is a fully grown african male elephant with heights and weights up to 3 m and 6000 kg respectively. (WWF 2022). In medieval art, the elephant is often described as being a “large size like a mountain” (Ogata 2019, 13). This further demonstrates the strength of the dragon to be able to kill an elephant. This miniature comes from a bestiary called Harley 4751. The time period is approximately in the 13th century and it originated from England. This depiction is culturally significant because the dragon and elephant are often shown in combat in medieval literature. The feud between these two beasts is described as ‘everlasting fighting’ (Bartholomaeus 1893, 124). 

In this miniature (London, The British Library, Additional 17333, fol. 42v), a dragon and his army are depicted attacking the city of saints described in Revelation. The dragon is not very big compared to the humans however it has 7 heads and powerful talons. In this image, the dragon possesses traits of a large bird as it has feathered wings and talons on its feet. Since this is portraying the dragon attacking the city of saints, the dragon can be seen as an opposition of God or devillike. The dragon is emerging from the mouth of a large animal in the bottom right corner. Oftentimes in medieval literature, a large animal with an open mouth is imagery for the mouth of hell (Hofmann 2008, 82). This further reinforces the idea the dragon is attributed to Satan. The significance of this image is to portray one scene in the Apocalypse from Revelation where the dragon is attacking following Satan’s release (Moleiro 2022). Flames are seen coming from above to consume the army of the dragon, presumably from God. This miniature is from the Val Dieu Apocalypse manuscript, the approximate date of it is 1320-1330, and it originated from Normandy, France.