Thursday, May 10, 2012

A woman, a child, a dragon :random imaginations

Jacob Elsner, Wild woman, Gradual ('Geese Book'), (Nuremburg, 1507), New York, Morgan Library, MSM. 905, f.122.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I like this image, I thinks on of the greatest visual works I have ever seen because it makes my imagination run wild. I keep imagining what events could have possibly happened to lead to this scene.
We have a Wild woman catching a dragon by the tail and raising her club, and a female dragon holding a baby. Notice that she is holding the baby gently almost playfully with no seeming intention to devour it. Here are the scenarios I came up so far:
Scenario 1: a crazy wannabe mommy.
The dragon is one of those crazy females that try to steal babies from hospitals. So while the wild woman was not looking she nicked the kid and now the mother wants her baby back.
Scenario 2: Wild Flintstones.
Do you remember that cartoon? And how the cavemen family had a pet Dino? Maybe this is the medieval version? The Wild Family has a pet dragon Draco and she wanted to play with the child because this is what pets do, and the mommy decided to join in to the fun time.
Scenario 3: Wild woman to the rescue.
What I find confusing is the child being hairless. It may be that it is a human child and that the dragon kidnapped it and the Wild Female is trying to rescue the baby.

Jenny


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