ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for World Giraffe Day: The Dabous Giraffes
June 21st is World Giraffe Day! These two life-size giraffe petroglyphs are the largest known animal carvings in the world.
Tag: ancient
ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for International Vulture Awareness Day #1: Antoine-Louis Barye’s vulture watercolors
International Vulture Awareness Day is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of September. There are 23 extant species of “vultures” split between two distinct taxonomies: the “New World” Vultures, a monophyletic group comprised of 7 species from the Americas in the Cathartidae family, and the “Old World” Vultures, a polyphyletic…
ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for International Dog Day: CAVE CANEM (“Beware of the Dog”)
This is but one of several similar ancient Roman mosaics. It has been suggested that the signs were not to warn trespassers about a guard dog, but rather to warn visitors to not accidentally step on the wee house dog! (These were probably small Italian Greyhounds.) Here’s another cute example:…
ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY: Owl Supernatural Decapitator!
Here’s another piece from the Ancient Americas gallery at the Reading Public Museum…“Owl Supernatural Decapitor” needs to be someone’s new goth metal band name In Moche art, birds of prey are sometimes depicted as Supernatural Decapitators who sever the heads of sacrificial victims. This Decapitator Owl has a face with…
ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY for World Turtle Day #1: a sea turtle and a land tortoise on a pair of ancient Aeginan coins
Coins of Aegina depicted images of sea turtles on their coins when the island of Aegina was the supreme sea power among the Greek city-states. The sea turtle, seen here on the front (obverse) of this coin, represented its naval strength and resiliency. After its defeat by Athens in 458…
ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY: an ivory hair comb from ancient Egypt decorated with rows of wildlife
Finely carved ivory combs and knife handles produced toward the end of Egypt’s prehistory demonstrate the high standards Egyptian artists had achieved, even before the Old Kingdom. This comb may have been part of the funeral equipment of an elite person who lived about 5,200 years ago. Parts of the…
ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY: It’s a duck, it’s a dolphin, it’s a…duckphin? (dolduck?)
“Dolphin on back of duck; one head serves for both.” So instead of two heads are better than one they decided to go with one head is better than two? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “Orifice in tail of duck and round opening in head which allow passage of air through body and up…
