Animals and Men [antikvár]

This book originated in an invitation from Fleur Cowles, International Trustee of the World Wildlife Fund, to write a book on animals in art. This by itself did not seem to me to constitute a subject, but on reflection it occurred to me that no one had ever given much thought to the relationship of animals and men, and that this might be a subject worth exploring.My first thought was of the old myths of the Golden Age and the Garden of Eden, in which men and animals lived in harmony with one another. What allowed men to gain the upper hand to such an extent that they could almost exterminate a whole species? The question is complicated by the fact that primitive man worshipped animals and, quite early on in ancient Egypt and in Homeric Greece, men loved them as intensely as we do today. This dual relationship is the main theme of my book. But it has other aspects, curiosity and self-identification on the one hand, greed and sheer cruelty on the other. It soon became apparent to me that this was a vast subject which might occupy a scholar for many years. I had no time for the labour and research involved, and the International Animal in Art' Museum project was approaching. The only alternative was a short book in which some of the questions are asked and the reader's interest in the subject may be aroused.How, for instance, did some animals acquire, and retain, their status as divine, or at least become symbols of the gods? Why did they come to be included among the signs of the zodiac? How did three animals, hitherto accepted as pagan gods, become symbols of the Evangelists? Questions like these prompted the section which I have called 'Sacred and Symbolic Animals'. They led me, in the end, to some unexpected conclusions. I might never, otherwise, have juxtaposed the White Hart of Richard II and an inn sign. Nor might I9