Welcome to No Fear Friday, where I good-natured-ly make fun of bad
artwork from the Middle Ages, to hopefully inspire those interested in
the scribal arts to give it a try. This week:
Bats!
Bats are all over, so they fare a little better than those poor elephants in medieval illumination. But, bats are small, fly really fast, and don't normally just land where you can conveniently get a good look at them... soooo there are still some problems.
Strike that, there are a lot of problems... so... so many problems.
At this point the pinterest board where I collect such things has over 30 examples of bats in medieval art and illumination. It stands to reason. If bats were far more common and familiar to the medieval artisan, then they would be more likely to be illuminated... badly.
In the interest of time then, I'm going to have to give them to you in bunches of similar problems.
Bats as Birds:
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| England ca. 1226-1250 (Bodleian Library, MS. Bodl. 764, fol. 78r) |
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| Luttrell Psalter, 14th c. |
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Guyart des Moulins, Bible Historiale Paris
ca. 1400-1450 |
Bats are birds, right? They were certainly listed that way in a lot of medieval bestiaries. To
quote Isidore of Seville in the 7th century, "The bat, unlike other birds, is a flying quadruped, resembling a mouse." So with that description, why not give it feathers like the first picture, raptor talons like the second, or bird-like wing structure like the third? Totally makes sense. I actually kind of like the feathers idea in the first one. And the second one is actually more like they slapped bat wings on an owl, which makes even more sense. After all, they are both night-time 'birds', right?
Ok, enough making excuses for medieval artists, check out the expression on the face of this guy in the third picture. Is it just me, or with the way he's holding his wings out doesn't it look like he's flashing us? Just me? Alrighty then, moving on.
Bats as Rats:
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| Sloane MS 20, British Library |
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Le Livre et le vraye hystoire du bon roy Alixandre, France 1420
BL, Royal 20 B XX, fol. 51v |
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Prosdocimus de Beldemandis, treatise on astrology, Padua ca. 1434.
Bodleian Library, MS. Canon. Misc. 554, fol. 164v |
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De Natura animalium, Cambrai ca. 1270 Douai,
Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 711, fol. 33v |
Don't forget the sharp pointy teeth! The major problem with illuminating bats as if they are just flying rats seems to be the legs. The first picture just takes your normal four-legged, albeit pissed-off, mouse and slaps some wings on him. All the rest seem to have gotten the memo that the wings should equal the first set of limbs, and leaves the second set of limbs just hanging back there like... well like legs. And I do like the obvious thought that went into figuring out what exactly those back legs did while the bat was flying. Clearly bats are super flexible because those are some gymnastics championship level splits going on there.
Bats as Bunnies:
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Français 95, 13th c.
Gallica, Bibliotheque Nationale de France |
I'll be honest, I don't know for sure that this is a bat. It's entirely possible that it could be a bunny wrapped in a blanket, or a little demon thing based on a bunny. But if you take the assumption, as I do, that those are it's wings wrapped around itself (like bats have been known to do) then it looks awfully bat-like. Except for the ears, but if we can base bats on rats why not other rodents?
Bats as... Moths?
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| c 1300-c 1340, The Decretals of Gregory IX |
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| English c. 1250 - 1260, Getty Ms. 100 (2007.16), fol. 37 |
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Bat in a hat, book of hours, Picardy 15th century
(Abbeville, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 16, fol. 31v) |
The artists who created these images were obviously coming off of a long hard day of illumination and just couldn't be bothered with trying to figure out how the anatomy was supposed to work. I imagine the conversations went something like this:
Monk 1: John, are you sure the client wanted a bat in this?
John: Yes
Monk 1: And what do they look like again?
John: I don't know...small and furry with large leathery wings.
Monk 1: How many legs?
John: Do I look like I know? Just hurry up will you, the light is fading and the beer awaits.
Monk 1: Ok... but I'm putting a tiny hat on it.
John: Whatever makes you happy.
Bats as one big leathery wing:
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| Hortus sanitatis Strassburg: Johann Prüss, not after 21 Oct. 1497 Inc iv 201 Folio 542 |
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Livre de l’art de chasser au moyen des oiseaux Bruges · ca. 1485-1490
Ms. fr. 170 Folio 100v |
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Pabenham-Clifford Hours, England ca. 1315-1320
Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 242, fol. 52r |
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| The Luttrell Psalter, c. 1325 - 1335, Add MS 42130, f. 164r, The British Library |
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| Morgan, M.873, 14th c. |
I mean... you kinda had to see where this was going, right? Funnily enough though, these are the ones that are probably the most anatomically correct of the bunch. At least they are kinda in the correct ballpark. Well, maybe not the first two examples, as those bats really do look like they are flying plates. But these others seem to have at least a loose idea of the wing structure... even if all the bones are hilariously not in the right places. And this last one... what is up with those ears and teeth and glowing red eyes? Totally buying into the evil creature of the night persona there.
...What?
Or, other awesome finds.
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'De arte venandi cum avibus' France ca. 1310
BnF, Français 12400, fol. 75v |
Show me those Jazz Hands! All 12 of them!
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| Morgan Library MS M.81 fol. 54v |
Or if you don't have hands show me those jazz...tentacles?
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Bestiary/Liber de natura bestiarum, England after 1236.
British Library, Harley 3244, fol. 55v |
And in the category of cuteness we have this little cartoony guy. He's just so happy to see you!
But not as cute as this one! The British library's comment says
"detail of a bat? or a beaver with wings?" I say, who cares, HE'S SO FUZZY!!!
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Miroir historial de Vincent de Beauvais, trad. par Jean de Vignay, premier volume (neuf livres).
Date d'édition : 1401-1500 Français 308 Folio 26r |
But this guy, right here, is my all time favorite. I feel this grumpy little bat on a spiritual level. We both could be super cute and adorable if we wanted too, but it is early and there is not enough coffee in the world. (And my husband helpfully adds: he does kinda look like me in the morning too.) Harumpf.
So which is your favorite medieval bat?
P.S.- Special shout out to two excellent twitter accounts where a lot of these images came from:
Both have frequent updates of obscure medieval illumination, and almost always have the correct attribution attached (unlike some places on the internet). I'd encourage anyone interested in illumination to give them a click.
Next post in the series: Cats!
Previous post in the series: Elephants!
UPDATE: I didn't include this guy originally because I didn't have attribution
for him, but he's amazing and would fall squarely into the "Bats as
rabbits" category:
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| The Luttrell Psalter 1325-1340, British library Add MS 42130 Folio 75v |
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