Renaissance bestiary
A proposal for a bestiary in the Renaissance era, where an anonymous artist found fossils of different prehistoric animals, and in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci's sketchbooks, reconstructed them in the form of iconic animals from Greco-Roman mythology, trying to give a natural explanation for their existence based on the fossils, making sketch sheets using as a reference and studying native animals of the Italian peninsula.
In this first page of the sketchbook, the artist describes a fossil of a front limb resembling a bird's wing, but with three fingers ending in sharp claws. He also depicts a drawing of a fasciata eagle, a bird of prey native to Italy.
Linking the fossil to Greco-Roman mythology, the artist suggests that the animal in question is a Stymphalian Bird, a feathered creature with a beak and copper claws capable of cutting flesh, known for being the sixth of the twelve tasks of the Greek hero
Anatomical studies of the sharp talons of a fasciata eagle.
Anatomical studies of the wings of a bird.
In his next description, the artist speaks of a fossil similar to a reptile skull, but belonging to a being much larger than the native lizards of Italy.
To compare it with mythology, the artist resorted to the description of dragons, being described as elongated almost serpentine reptiles, so he compared the description with Horvath's lizard, thinking that the dragon in question had an elongated tails
Studies of the head of a Horvath's lizard.
Anatomical studies of the front and hind limbs of the Horvath's lizard.
On his next sheet, he talks about a fossil similar to a giant tusk, as well as describing giant hoof prints marked on the rocks near where he found the supposed tusk.
Returning to mythology, the artist recalled the description of giant boars that terrorized villages, especially one specimen that was the fourth of the twelve tasks of Hercules, the beast known as the Erymanthian Boar.
A study of the footprints in the rock, comparing them with the anatomy of common wild boars, native to the area. It is thought that at one time there could have been wild boars that were four times the size of today's wild pigs.
Anatomical study of the jaw of a wild boar, in order to understand the position of the enormous tusks that these supposedly giant wild boars could have taken.
In his next description, the artist speaks of a deer-like jaw, as well as structures resembling giant ornaments. Along with a sketch of a European fallow deer, a common species in the area.
To link it to mythology, the artist referred to the Tarand, a species of animal similar to a giant deer/elk/reindeer with the ability to camouflage itself in its surroundings.
Study of the structure resembling a giant ornament, comparing it with the anatomy of the skull of a European fallow deer.
Anatomical studies of the head and antlers of a European Fallow Deer.
For his latest pair of fossils, the artist talks about a kind of jaw with elongated fangs next to a pair of elongated horns. Along with a sketch of the head of an Alpine goat, whose horns resemble those in the fossil.
Thinking that the jaw belonged to a species of canine anatomy, he associated the jaw with the red fox, thinking that he was talking about a chimera animal, referring to the creature of mythology known as Odontotyrannus
Anatomical study of the jaws of a red fox.
Anatomical study of the Alpine goat.
Mockup of a physical book with the bestiary pages.