Representation of Animals in Roman Art of the Middle Ages



Fig.1 Roman pottery of

 the Middle Ages



Fig.2 Fragment of a crockery 
from the early medieval houses in

Nerva's Forum

(9th-11th centuries)





     The Roman art of the Middle Ages incorporates a highly stylized representation of animals, exposing combinations of geometric patterns and natural body parts (eg. eyes, legs, wings). The animals illustrated are mostly birds, but there are also some horses, dogs or sheep. Furthermore, the animal images appear as decorative elements of the pottery (Fig.1 and Fig.2), in which the particular animals are centrally positioned, integrated and surrounded by various geometric forms (eg. curved or straight lines, circles etc). In addition, there are also examples of some lamps in the form of animals (Fig.3), exhibiting the idea of motion (eg. regarding the horse’s leg posture) and stylization (eg. the addition of wings and frontal, circular forms to the horse’s body). The emphasis on movement can even be seen in the pottery decorations (eg. Fig.4), revealed through the animal’s pose too (eg. legs positioned one in front of the other and head up high, with open mouth and “irritated” expression). The animal is again surrounded by various, repeated patterns, increasing the vivacity of the actual combination (eg. animals and geometric shapes), which appears as a single decorative element. Therefore, the depiction of animals in medieval Roman art includes a compact mixture of various forms, flawlessly merged together and rendering a unique style of decoration.

Fig.3 Lamps from historical collections

(6th-8th centuries)

Fig.4 Roman pottery of the

Middle Ages