The Lion, King of Beasts

The bestiary's lion opens with two intertwined legends, both illustrated here in a single gold-ground miniature: above, a lioness gives birth to cubs that lie dead for three days, until the father lion breathes into their faces and roars them back to life — read throughout the Middle Ages as a direct type of Christ's Resurrection, sealed in the tomb three days before rising. Below, a lion flees hunters across open ground, dragging its tail behind it to sweep away its own pawprints, erasing the trail before it can be followed — medieval commentators took this as Christ concealing his divine nature at the Incarnation, walking among men untraceable until he chose to be known. Made around 1230 for the Rochester priory, this is one of the most theologically dense pages in the bestiary tradition, two lion legends doing the work of a Gospel argument.

Maker

Unknown English illuminator (made for the Benedictine priory of St Andrew, Rochester)

Date

c. 1230

Medium of the original

Illuminated manuscript

Original held by

The British Library

Credit

The British Library

Rights

Public domain, verified

Catalogue number

PA-00926