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SAT: Reading Comprehension Question #9 |
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The European Middle Ages fall between approximately 500 AD to 1500 AD. For people who have not studied this period in history, much of what they know about the Middle Ages was learned from movies. Regrettably, Hollywood depictions are hardly accurate or complete.
During the thousand-year span, there were periods of particular brutality and intellectual stagnation. However, the Middle Ages also saw significant advances in farming, architecture, science, and art. In fact, medieval artists produced beautiful and enduring works. An examination of medieval art reveals the period's great interest in animals. There are countless images of animals in medieval paintings, manuscripts, stained glass windows, sculptures, and buildings. These images are important not only for what they contribute to our understanding of medieval art, but also for what they reveal about the society that produced them.
During the Middle Ages, books called bestiaries were extremely popular. Bestiaries contained descriptions of and information about different animals, including their physical attributes, diet, temperament, and habitat. They were illustrated with colorful drawings that were sometimes far removed from the colors of the actual animals; it was not unusual to see blue or green monkeys. The animals fell into three basic categories: familiar animals like dogs, cats, horses, and cows; exotic animals like lions, elephants, crocodiles, and camels; and imaginary and mythological animals like centaurs, sirens, dragons, and gargoyles.
Although common animals could be studied and drawn from direct observation, this was not the traditional way in which medieval artists learned how to draw their subjects. Much of the animal imagery was derived from secondary sources such as other manuscripts, popular folklore, textiles imported from the East, and ancient Greek and Roman art and literature. There was an unquestioning trust in the wisdom and authority of the ancients. In modern times, originality is a quality that is valued and encouraged, but in medieval times, artists were lauded for faithful adherence to tradition rather than for innovation. Generally, artists were more concerned with achieving technical perfection than with enhancing their work with personal touches.
Bestiaries did more than provide images and information about animals. The animals -- real or imaginary -- were chiefly allegorical. They served as moral and religious models. Indeed, despite offering important insights into medieval animal science, the bestiaries were essentially symbolic, primarily concerned with the moral edification of their readers. The images and descriptions of the animals helped medieval artists shape human behavior. And the visual aspect of the images allowed the meaning and symbolism to reach a largely illiterate population.
What exactly was allegorical about animals in medieval art and literature? One example is how bestiaries interpreted the characteristics and habits of the camel. The fact that camels can endure long periods of time without drinking was presented as a symbol of temperance, or self-control. When camels finally satiate their thirst, they drink enough to sustain them beyond their present thirst. This preparation for the future was explained as a symbol of prudence. The camel's kneeling down to accept heavy loads was a sign of humility. All of these qualities were highly valued in human beings for both moral and religious reasons. Another subject of medieval artists was the crocodile, a fierce and feared animal that received unfavorable treatment in the bestiaries. As an amphibian, the crocodile became symbolic of hypocrites. Described as living in water at night and on land during the day, the crocodile was compared to people who live immoral lives by night but pretend to be upstanding citizens by day.
The fanciful creatures were also imbued with symbolic significance. Depicted in art and literature since ancient times, the siren was a bird with the upper body of a woman. Living on land and sea, sirens would sing out to passing ships. Their beautiful voices would lure the sailors to rocks, where they would wreck their ships and die. According to the bestiaries, the tale of the sirens exemplified the ignorance and carelessness of human beings who allow themselves to be led astray; in medieval art, the siren was a symbol of temptation and deception. Another popular creature was the centaur, a horse with a human head and torso. Having two different natures, the centaur symbolized human beings' struggle between reason and passion or between good and evil.
Depictions of animals in the Middle Ages give us insight into the interweaving of philosophy, religion, and art. Centuries after their conception, they continue to fascinate readers.
Question:
Based on the third paragraph, a bestiary could most closely be compared to
Choices:
Correct Answer: (E)
Like a specialized encyclopedia, a bestiary contained information about a particular subject, in this case, animals. Bestiaries provided informative details like the animals' attributes and habitat. Although colorfully illustrated, bestiaries were more than picture books, a term usually used to describe children's illustrated stories.
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