In this thread of plagues of Egypt, the enraged squirrel leads the wild animals #Passover

Still no clear explanation for this madness #Passover

#Passover tomorrow evening. Here's a thread of medieval cats in haggadot!

A very plump squirrel nibbling on acorns in Bishop Alcock's Chantry Chapel at Ely Cathedral.
#SundayStonework

3/3 Two jaguars (one, I'm sure, just napping!), painted in 1639 by Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp of Dordrecht, whose day was today.

A very fine early 15c camel in the choir pews at Walpole St Peter church in the Fens

It's #Caturday !

Wait, is the corgi really that big?

A late entry for #LesArmoiriesDuVendredi , spot the heraldic ermines on the collar of the loyal canine at the feet of Francis II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1488) in Nantes #Dogsoftwitter (Anne of Brittany's 1493 accounts list dog collars decorated with ermines, with gold buckles)

There is a long history of bears performing that we can see in the margins of medieval manuscripts. Here a bear is lead on a leash by a minstrel. These bear trainers would become known in England as bearwards.

British Library, Additional MS 62925 (Rutland Psalter), folio 56r

And now for a word from the world of science. (Boston Globe 1899, via Newspapers.com)

For #BatAppreciationDay , Alexander the Great and his men face GIANT BATS in Thomas de Kent's Roman de toute chevalerie in Bibliothèque BnF Français 24364 f. 54 (early 14th c. ms)

Someone kindly reminded me that it’s #BatAppreciationDay 🦇🦇

Here are some details from two of my favourite watercolour drawings from Bengal collected by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, c. 1795-1806. British Library NHD3

As it's #BatAppreciationDay we had to share this exquisite vessel depicting a Moche bat god! Although in Moche culture bats were associated with death, it was as symbols of the natural cycles of destruction and renewal which effects everything.

Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the bats, for today is their special day!

📷Illustration of a lesser ternat bat from 'Animated Nature' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon [Reserve 590 BUF]

#InternationalBatAppreciationDay #BatDay #RareBooks

In our latest #DigitalLab blog post Anthropology curator Dr Mark Elliott explores why depictions of this character from the Japanese folk tale Bunbuku Chagama are often misleadingly referred to as badger-kettles. [1/2]

For #batappreciationday , regard this fine gentleman highway bat elegantly fighting with an umbrella, subtly and wittily recreating a scene from a popular 18th century play.

蝙蝠之五段目 ca.1880
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892)

Happy #BatAppreciationDay ! The medieval bestiary tells us that bats are not noble birds, they prefer to fly at dusk, hang from high places like a bunch of grapes, and their voice is like a mouse squeak 🦇🖤

The 13th-cent. Ashmole Bestiary, Bodleian Libraries MS. Ashmole 1511, f. 63r

Obaysch, Victorian celebrity hippo!

A dazzlingly disdainful duck struts her funky stuff at the centre of a 4th century #Roman mosaic from Barton Farm #Gloucestershire

Found in 1824 and on display in the ever wonderful Corinium Museum

📷 August 2022

#MosaicMonday