Four Dragons

Here are some illustrations of dragons taken from Athanasius Kircher’s book Mundus Subterraneus (1664/5).

In 1664 Kircher published his masterpiece, an immense and amazing work entitled ‘Mundus subterraneus’ (The Underground World) and covering all aspects of anything that dwelled or occurred within the earth’s interior - from lizards in caves, to fossils in rocks, to mountain springs, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Kircher’s Mundus Subterraneus marks the first serious effort to describe the physical makeup of the earth, proposing theories (sometimes fantastic) in the areas of physics, geography, geology, and chemistry… - Eugenii Katz.

I found these splendid creatures amongst the many interesting images behind this page of links, compiled by French writer Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès. I had been looking for something else entirely.

M. Blas de Roblès has published volumes of poetry and short stories, two intriguing-sounding novels: L’impudeur des choses and Le rituel des dunes, which, sadly, have not made it into English translation, and an illustrated treatise based on an archaeological expedition to Libya: Libye grecque, romaine et byzantine.

Clicking on the images will open slightly larger versions of the same.