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July 2, 2009
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:iconalarie-tano:
Watercolors, 44 x 31 cm

The beautiful text the right lizard is encircling is by my wonderful friend =starrynienna. Go check out her profile and gallery!
The text on the left side is the translation of an medieval bestiary originally written in latin.

Here again the complete text:
First the excerpt, as we had to shorten her original writing so it would fit on the page.
The lizard is a creature of the light and only warmth filleth it with life. Therefore when the darkness of the night falleth, the lizard shall become petrified and without movement. Alas, it resteth not in its enchanted sleep, and its blood shall turn cold in the dark. Thus it must encounter the heat of its kindred; a touch of its own kin awakenth it from its despair, and its fire warmeth its corpus with life. Its scale shall thus regain its splendor, and its blood shall flow anew in its veins.

And secondly the Original complete text. You can find parts of this still somewhere around the lizzards.
The lizard is a serpent of feet, and thou shalt know it from this: it shineth in the color of the clear lake when the ray of the sun reacheth its wave. For the lizard is a creature of the light; it resteth in the warm, and the ray of the sun filleth it with life. Therefore when the darkness of the night falleth, the lizard becometh petrified and without movement. Alas, its sleep is not one of dreams but akin to death, and it shall not find rest in the hour of the night. Thus it must encounter the heat of its kindred, and the warmth of its own kin alone returneth life to its corpus. Its scale shall thus regain its splendor, and its blood shall flow anew in its veins.
Thus spoketh the prophecy: “With the touch of its skin it shall awake thee, one that breatheth thy fire and knoweth the count of thy scales. For it is thy kindred, from the realms where thou in truth belongst, and it shalt seek thee when thou layest in the dark. Thy confinement shall end at once, and thy misery shall dissolve by the light.”

Texts ©2009 =starrynienna
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:icondrdavistce:
Critique by ~DrDavisTCE Dec 24, 2012, 10:38:41 AM
This image catches attention immediately. I was simply browsing and saw it and had to look at it.

The amount of detail is exquisite.

The living lizard's face next to the illuminated lizard's face is a brilliant juxtaposition.

The illuminated manuscript is very well executed. I love the details you have included, including the initial T and the scrollwork.

The book appears to be in a modern binding. If the image you were going for is a modern reproduction of a work, you have definitely been successful.

The number of illuminations indicate an unusually expensive book. (And books were ALWAYS expensive.) Even the Book of Kells, which is extremely decorated, did not have such a large number of different images on a page.

It appears that "is" and "bends" uses a descending s. The descending s was not a terminal letter. It was used at the beginning and in the middle of words.
What do you think?
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2 out of 2 deviants thought this was fair.
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:iconarcticicewolf:
~ArcticIceWolf Apr 27, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
ich finde ja mittelalterliche Buchmalereien großartig!
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:iconvasodelirium:
*vasodelirium Apr 1, 2013
hi!your work is featured in my journal,hope you don't mind:)
:iconwalkingcatplz:
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:iconalarie-tano:
=alarie-tano Apr 2, 2013  Student Traditional Artist
Of course I don't mind! Thanks a lot for the feature! :)
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:icongryffgirl:
*Gryffgirl Feb 7, 2013
Wow! Your colors and details are stunning! I love the illuminated manuscript! :wow:
Reply
:iconalarie-tano:
=alarie-tano Feb 7, 2013  Student Traditional Artist
Thank you very much!
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:icondrdavistce:
~DrDavisTCE Feb 6, 2013
Is it possible to purchase this image as a jpeg for use in a textbook? If so, how much would it cost, and (pardon my ignorance here), how would I pay for that? Would I do the "request print" link?
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:icondrdavistce:
~DrDavisTCE Feb 6, 2013
I keep coming back to this image. It is so memorable.
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:iconalarie-tano:
=alarie-tano Feb 7, 2013  Student Traditional Artist
Thank you! I'll write a private message about the image use.
Reply
:iconfedersstrich:
~FedersStrich Dec 9, 2012   Writer
Zauberhafte Arbeit!:heart::clap:
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:iconalarie-tano:
=alarie-tano Dec 15, 2012  Student Traditional Artist
Vielen Dank! :)
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