Wild Goat

Wild Goat /capra/ 10.2×6 cm
Built according to the heraldic symmetry, the miniature illustrates the story of a wild goat who lives in the high mountains and sometimes comes down to the valley. She is known to be very sharp-sighted. The text of the bestiary originates from the description and interpretations of Greek “Physiologus”, in which the goat’s acute eyesight is likened to God’s all-seeing and the high mountains providing the goat with food signify the Apostles and Prophets. The Latin versions of “Physiologus” and the bestiaries following it develop the symbolic aspect of the story, complementing it with new comparisons and quotations from the Holy Writ /Song 2:9/. Isidor /XII, I, 15—16/ and Pseudo-Hugh /II. 13/ also mention the goat’s sharp sight. As a symbol of all-seeing by Our Lord it is treated in the poetical bestiaries of Philippe de Thaiin /581—632/ and Guillaume le Clerc /1729—1830/.