Folio 70v - the saura, continued. De stellione; Of the newt.

Folio 71r - the newt, continued. De natura serpentium; Of the nature of snakes.

Help Copyright

COMMENTARY

Text

The saura goes blind, enters a crack in the wall, faces the sun and regains its sight. The stellio or newt has spots over his body.

Illustration

The saura is shown crawling through a crack in a wall towards the sun in order to regain his sight.

Comment

Stellio has spots, but should have legs too. Initials type 2.

COMMENTARY

Text

The snake sheds its skin by scraping through a narrow crack in a rock.

Illustration

The snake squeezes through a slot in a narrow tower.

Comment

The straightforward snake is nonethless shown with wings. Although the text says the snake goes through a rima (crack) in a rock, most of the second family of Bestiaries show the snake going through a masonry tower. This image appeared due to a misreading of the word rima for ruina (ruin). Initial type 2.