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Lot Essay
Monsters are as ancient as humanity. Mankind has always required a way to rationalize the forces of his natural world as a way to appease them. These incomprehensible forces possessed superhuman power that combined traits belonging to animals and as well as humans. Indeed, the prehistoric caves that date to 25,000-20,000 years ago in Southern France and Spain depict “monstrous forms.” These beasts enter myths and become part of ancient civilizations in Egypt, the Mediterranean and the Near East; they exist worldwide. They evolved into strange beings with recognizable human and animal attributes—the Sphinx, Chimera, Leviathan, Harpy, and numerous variations through the centuries. They rise from the sea or from within the bowels of the very earth; they wreak havoc and destruction; devour all in sight; and are often gargantuan. (1)
The multi-authored compendium detailing these supernatural creatures, the Liber Monstrorum (in Latin) or Book of Monsters written between 900 and 1000, was a source of study for various contemporary thinkers including St. Augustine who discussed why these creatures exist within the realm of creation and as part of God’s plan in his own writings.(2) In the Middle Ages and through the Renaissance, artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Breughel the elder and Mathias Grunewald, used these grotesque creatures as symbols that represented God’s power over nature. They stand as warning to mankind and point its frailties.
The Tagua Lake monster supposedly was spotted, according to the cartouche which accompanies the present lot, at Don Prospéro Elso’s hacienda, or farm in the vicinity of Lake Tagua in Chile. The eighteenth-century artist was aware of the legend or folk lore and graphically painted the mythic being in grand detail. An etching dating to 1784, part of the permanent holdings of the Biblioteca Nacional de España was shown in the exhibition, Monstruos: Seres Imaginarios, in 2000.(3)
1) D. D. Gilmore, Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and all Manner of Imaginary Terror, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, 23-27. This content downloaded from 146.96.128.36 on Sun, 15 Oct 2017 20:04:29 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms MONSTERS IN THE WEST, I: THE ANCIENT WORLD 27
2) Gilmore, p. 52. This content downloaded from 146.96.128.36 on Sun, 15 Oct 2017 20:04:29 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 24 Chapter 3
3) Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Monstruos: Seres Imaginarios, 2000, p. 63, no. 14507. The checklist includes Monstruo aparecido en la laguna de Tagua as included in exhibition.
The multi-authored compendium detailing these supernatural creatures, the Liber Monstrorum (in Latin) or Book of Monsters written between 900 and 1000, was a source of study for various contemporary thinkers including St. Augustine who discussed why these creatures exist within the realm of creation and as part of God’s plan in his own writings.(2) In the Middle Ages and through the Renaissance, artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Breughel the elder and Mathias Grunewald, used these grotesque creatures as symbols that represented God’s power over nature. They stand as warning to mankind and point its frailties.
The Tagua Lake monster supposedly was spotted, according to the cartouche which accompanies the present lot, at Don Prospéro Elso’s hacienda, or farm in the vicinity of Lake Tagua in Chile. The eighteenth-century artist was aware of the legend or folk lore and graphically painted the mythic being in grand detail. An etching dating to 1784, part of the permanent holdings of the Biblioteca Nacional de España was shown in the exhibition, Monstruos: Seres Imaginarios, in 2000.(3)
1) D. D. Gilmore, Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and all Manner of Imaginary Terror, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, 23-27. This content downloaded from 146.96.128.36 on Sun, 15 Oct 2017 20:04:29 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms MONSTERS IN THE WEST, I: THE ANCIENT WORLD 27
2) Gilmore, p. 52. This content downloaded from 146.96.128.36 on Sun, 15 Oct 2017 20:04:29 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 24 Chapter 3
3) Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Monstruos: Seres Imaginarios, 2000, p. 63, no. 14507. The checklist includes Monstruo aparecido en la laguna de Tagua as included in exhibition.