Fins and tentacles creative imagination in the iconography of aquatic fauna - excerpts from the changing meanings of aquatic animal symbolism

Abstract

This paper attempts to review the changes in the motivations of creative imagination in the pre-Enlightenment period through aquatic iconographic examples. Examples are the open-water animal illustrations of Renaissance bestiaries and Enlightenment encyclopaedic illustrations, the rich source material of which is selected along the lines of hybridizing animal types. All that shows that the creative imagination behind the work can be revealing about the creator and the motivations behind his creative thinking, even if the primary purpose of the work is documentation. Indeed, the resulting works can have a similar effect on the receptive spectator.