这本可爱的礼品书探索了全世界各个时期与文化的奇珍异兽，有的是真实存在的，有的是虚构的。

依靠世界领先的学术研究和大英博物馆的大量藏品，《中世纪动物寓言集》是一本精彩的、视觉化的、按照主题探讨动物——画在漂亮的宗教仪式器物和艺术作品上，有真实的、超现实的和虚构的——的专著。**的杰作与来自各个时期和世界各地的罕见文物结合在一起。

本书按主题分为五章（野生动物、家养动物、奇异动物、象征性动物，以及杂交和神话动物），用智能的图像配对和分组描绘动物，鼓励读者去发现和了解文化背景，以及许多不同文明起源之间的关系。

350张插图。

Bestiary is a wonderfully visual, thematic exploration of animals – real, surreal and imaginary – as depicted on beautiful ritual objects and works of art. Famous artworks mix with little-seen artefacts from every age and around the globe, offering a fresh perspective and new comparisons to stimulate the mind.

Art historian Christopher Masters is a clear and informative guide, illuminating familiar masterpieces and bringing lesser-known treasures into the light. Arranged thematically into five chapters, his book depicts animals in intelligent pairings and groupings of images that encourage the reader to find and learn the cultural context and connections between the origins of many different civilizations. An ancient Egyptian bronze divine cat sits next to a 19th-century print of English domestic feline bliss; a miniature Ice Age mammoth faces an ancient engraved drawing of a horse; the royal lion hunt is played across the walls of Ashurbanipal’s palace in Assyrian Nineveh; a Minoan acrobat leaps onto the back of a 3,500-year-old bull; while a Roman marble gives vivid life to the Persian legend of Mithras and the Bull.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Animals of the Wild
3. Domestic
4. Exotic
5. Symbolic
6. Hybrids & Mythical Creatures
7. Further reading
8. List of Illustration References
9. Index