Zoo-anthropomorphic initial

An initial partly or wholly composed of conflated human and animal forms.

An initial partly or wholly composed of conflated human and animal forms. Zoo-anthropomorphic evangelist symbols, in which a human body is surmounted by the head of the symbolic animal, are occasionally found in insular art and were particularly popular in Brittany. Zoo-anthropomorphic motifs also occur in other decorative contexts.

  • Portuguese:
    inicial zoo-antropomórfica

Michelle Brown, Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts (Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum in association with the British Library, c1994).