Oh, marvelous! My favorite is the exuberant feet. All of it is so beautiful, so intriguing, many lovely little mysterious symbolisms, wonderful design choices. I love that you added the French names. I am working on illustrations right now for my fable of why birds sing at dawn, so this comes especially welcome. I'm tickled to see the bird song -- I have been drawing/painting that too, in curlicues rather than the flower and leaf forms that, for me, hint at the intimacy among birds and plants. Grateful that you didn't cut short this post; seeing the "unidentified" birds is bittersweet as it resonates with the extinction crisis in our historical moment. Thank you for sharing this! I'm re-inspired to get back to my work.
I have no idea! but there are lots of whimsical chimera-like drawings in medieval manuscripts. I don't know if they're just imaginative doodles or they mean something!
Thank you Joumana. I agree, there’s so many strange little drawings in those mss and it’s a tad too late to ask anyone! Perhaps the artist made him up as he went, thinking: ‘That’ll get ‘em all wondering hehehe…’!
The depiction of birdsong is one of the most delightful things I've seen in ages! So delicate and imaginative.
Continuing here as BlueSky is difficult to keep track of everything:
-The long-tailed tit may just be another barn swallow, with the forked tail and orange.
-Could the black-crowned night herons be grey herons in a low posture? The orange beaks and grey colours made me think of them, and they're far more abundant (at least nowadays).
-The brown owls with ear tufts are likely Asio otus? Otherwise Bubo bubo - not sure of other brown western European owls with those features.
-The perching and diving light-coloured falcons struck me as gyrfalcons; not native to the area but popular with European nobility.
-The raptor with the grey top of the head, after the diving (gyr)falcon looks like a sparrowhawk; the third, dark bird perhaps a peregrine falcon.
I love birds. Thank you for the beautiful share! Birdsong and all! Lovely way to start my day.
I'm glad it brightened your day!
What an incredible collection of beautiful birds x
I agree!
That is magical - thank you! Especially the birdsong...such joy!
My pleasure!
Oh, marvelous! My favorite is the exuberant feet. All of it is so beautiful, so intriguing, many lovely little mysterious symbolisms, wonderful design choices. I love that you added the French names. I am working on illustrations right now for my fable of why birds sing at dawn, so this comes especially welcome. I'm tickled to see the bird song -- I have been drawing/painting that too, in curlicues rather than the flower and leaf forms that, for me, hint at the intimacy among birds and plants. Grateful that you didn't cut short this post; seeing the "unidentified" birds is bittersweet as it resonates with the extinction crisis in our historical moment. Thank you for sharing this! I'm re-inspired to get back to my work.
What a lovely coincidence! This sounds like a wonderful project.
I love that your third singing bird (reading top to bottom and left to right) is clearly singing about an acorn!
I'm a Californian birdwatcher with almost no knowledge of European birds - do you know what bird this acorn singer is?
Yes, it's a magpie!
I should have guessed - we have magpies that look like that here.
Thank you Joumana for a delightful post, with little birds singing and the accompanying dainty flower/leaf designs. Lovely to see the miniatures too.
On another note, I recommend a post in GreekReporter.com Thursday 21 November - “Hidden text discovered behind decorative layer of Blue Qur’an” https://greekreporter.com/2024/11/21/hidden-text-decorative-layer-blue-quran/
Thanks for the link, what a delightful discovery!
Forgot to ask - what on earth is on the fellow’s head in the last pic…??? Looks like a giant snail with a very strange head and no shell!
I have no idea! but there are lots of whimsical chimera-like drawings in medieval manuscripts. I don't know if they're just imaginative doodles or they mean something!
Thank you Joumana. I agree, there’s so many strange little drawings in those mss and it’s a tad too late to ask anyone! Perhaps the artist made him up as he went, thinking: ‘That’ll get ‘em all wondering hehehe…’!
Beautiful!!!
Fascinating and beautiful! Thank you for a look into these lovely paintings—they are most definitely an inspiration and a delight ✨
Glad you enjoyed it!
The depiction of birdsong is one of the most delightful things I've seen in ages! So delicate and imaginative.
Continuing here as BlueSky is difficult to keep track of everything:
-The long-tailed tit may just be another barn swallow, with the forked tail and orange.
-Could the black-crowned night herons be grey herons in a low posture? The orange beaks and grey colours made me think of them, and they're far more abundant (at least nowadays).
-The brown owls with ear tufts are likely Asio otus? Otherwise Bubo bubo - not sure of other brown western European owls with those features.
-The perching and diving light-coloured falcons struck me as gyrfalcons; not native to the area but popular with European nobility.
-The raptor with the grey top of the head, after the diving (gyr)falcon looks like a sparrowhawk; the third, dark bird perhaps a peregrine falcon.