Animal Art of the Day – ART HISTORY ANIMALIA

Archive by category "Animal Art of the Day" (Page 2)

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for Endangered Species Day: Van Gogh’s exotic animals

The 3rd Friday of May is Endangered Species Day. Although Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) never traveled outside of Europe, he painted at least two different animals from faraway lands…

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for World Binturong Day

Happy World Binturong Day, celebrated annually on the 2nd Saturday in May! This watercolor of a Binturong is from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings…

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for Wild Koala Day: “Australian Bears and Australian Pears”

Fauna: Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) (Reminder: not really a bear! It’s a marsupial.)Flora: Western Wooden Pear (Xylomelum occidentale) (Also not a true pear.) While Marianne North is primarily known as a pioneering botanical artist of the nineteenth century, many of her paintings include native fauna as well. Her life’s work of…

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for International Zebra Day #2: Zebras in ancient mosaics

This gallery contains 7 photos.

Compared to other well-known African ungulates like giraffes, hippos, & rhinos, zebras are rather rare in ancient mosaics. I’ve only been able to locate 5 examples, all Byzantine from the 5th-6th c…

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for International Zebra Day #1: George Edwards, George Stubbs, and the first British zebras

January 31st is International Zebra Day! First up, images of the first known zebras imported into Great Britain.

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for Penguin Awareness Day: Japanese penguins?

Haori with Penguins and Icebreaker ShipsJapan, mid-Shōwa period, 1957-58silk plain weave, stencil-printed warp and weft[photos by author] Penguins (Spheniscidae) are found almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, with only the Galápagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) skirting the other side of the equator. They definitely aren’t native to anywhere near Japan! I saw…

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for Appreciate a Dragon Day: A tale of two Dracos (and four Ursas)

For #AppreciateADragonDay, here are two versions of an illustration depicting Draco the dragon with the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor bear constellations. The first is from a medieval Carolingian illuminated manuscript known as the Leiden Aratea: Centuries later, Dutch humanist Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) acquired this manuscript and proceeded to publish…

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY: Today is the “Feast of the Ass” so here’s a donkey dish

January 14th is Feast of the Ass day! Yes, that’s a real thing — it was a niche Christian medieval feast day celebrated primarily in France as part of the Feast of Fools. But lest you think this meant the donkey was celebrated in a wholly positive light, you might…

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for International Land Snail Day: Snail gathering ritual on an ancient Moche vessel

“The figures on this Moche vessel hold gathering sticks that collect snails depicted in sculpture relief. The snail gathering ritual is taking place on a mountain suggested by the serpentine lines that arc across the top and front of the vessel. The snails absorbed mescaline-based chemicals while feeding on San…

ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY: Turtle Umblical Amulets

Here are two 19th-century turtle-shaped umbilical cord amulets from the Penn Museum‘s rotating display. The first one I saw on display this past weekend; the second one is from a visit back in 2019. I thought it looked different than what I remembered! 😉 1. Turtle-shaped umbilical cord amulet, Assiniboine…