Dragons, 17th century. Illustration of various forms of dragons, still included in encylopaedias of animals because their existence had not been dispr

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Dragons, 17th century. Illustration of various forms of dragons, still included in encylopaedias of animals because their existence had not been disproven. The later discovery of dinosaurs would show that such strange creatures could exist. Many 'dragons' owed their existence to taxidermy forgeries, and one such is the 'Jenny Haniver' in the middle of the picture which was produced by tying and cutting a dead ray to dry in a dragon-like pose. This illustration, by Caspar and Matthaus Merian, is a folio copperplate with later hand colouring. It was published in 'Historiae Naturalis' (John Jonston, Amsterdam, 1657-65).

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Size: 3279px × 5377px
Photo credit: © PAUL D STEWART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, animal, biological, biology, caspar, color, colour, dragon, dragons, fauna, haniver, historiae, historical, history, jenny, john, jonston, matthaus, merian, mythical, mythological, natural, naturalis, nature, ray, reptiles, wildlife, zoological