Opus

Encyclopædia of the sublime

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Zoology

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John James Audubon

John James Audubon first rose to fame through the 435 magnificent paintings he created for his landmark work, Birds of America, which detailed more than 700 bird species and was first published as a series on a subscription basis between 1827 and 1838. He shot and killed every bird he painted. Audubon was a noted hunter and taxidermist, and much of the money he made during his lifetime was from selling animal skins, a practice that in part helped to fund the printing of Birds of America.

Norwegian Lundehund

The Lundehund has a great range of motion in its joints, allowing it to fit into narrow passages. The head can be bent backward along the dog's own spine, and the forelegs can turn to the side at a 90-degree angle to its body, much like human arms. Its pricked, upright ears can be sealed nearly shut by folding them forward or backward. It has six toes, all fully formed, jointed and muscled. The Lundehund is adapted to climb narrow cliff paths in Norway where it natively would have hunted puffins.

Hanno

In early 16th century Rome, at the height of the Italian Renaissance, when artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo thrived in the Holy City, the decadent court of Pope Leo X was a place where visitors could find pleasures and entertainment more exotic than anything they had previously imagined. Among the Pope's great joys was his menagerie of exotic animals, and the prize of his collection was an Indian elephant named Hanno, presented to him by the King of Portugal. This elephant - trained to kneel, dance, weep, and trumpet on command - led parades and entertained at public festivals and was commemorated in paintings, poetry, and sculpture. For Romans, Hanno became the preeminent symbol of the alluring Orient; for Pope Leo's detractors, the elephant became a symbol of Roman corruption.