Pard and Leopard

Pard and Leopard /pardus et leopardus/ 10.4X7 cm
The story of the part and leopard follows Isidor /XII.II.10—11/ who proceeds from Pliny /VIII. 16.17/. The bestiary says that the pard is predatory by nature and that leopards are born of a lioness and a pard.
In the miniature the pard is featured in the tradition of the ancient Oriental art in which the swift wild animal is pictured with a spiral tail. This tradition, passed on from one culture into another, in the Middle Ages still retained its basic features — the decorative pattern of the stylized figure of the beast with a spiral tail and a palmette at the tip.
РИС 80