These drawings of sea monsters, taken from books written in Europe centuries ago, prove that you don’t need CGI to create a seriously incredible creature.
An aquatic lion, pig and elephant from the ceiling of Church of St. Martin in Zillis, Switzerland, 12th century
(via Monster Brains)
A crocodile from Liber Floridus (Book of Flowers), an encyclopedia by Lambert, Canon of Saint Omer between 1090 and 1120.
(via Erik Kwakkel)
A crocodile from the Rochester Bestiary, c. 1225-1250
(via Wikimedia Commons)
A lobster-fish hybrid from Ortus sanitatis, by Jonathan Prüss, 1499
(via Internet Archive)
Whales, sea pigs, orcas, sea serpents and other monsters on Carta Marina, a map by Olaus Magnus, 1527-1539
(via Wikimedia Commons)
The famous Sea Monster chart of Sebastian Münster, one of the most influential works of 16th century, created in 1539
(via Wikimedia Commons)
A sea serpent and a hydra from Konrad Gesner’s Historiae Animalium, 1558
(via National Library of Medicine)
A sea-pig from La descriptione dela Puglia, 1567
(via Newfilmkritik)
Two giant fishes attacking a ship off the coast of America, in a map from the first true modern atlas named Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, written by Abraham Ortelius, first printed in 1570
(via Columbia University)
A giant squid, whales, a sea serpent and some monsters from Adriaen Coenen’s Visboek, 1580
A monkfish:
The Tigruis, a half-blind monster who loves to follow ships, because it “likes to watch the sails being hoisted”:
(via National Library of the Netherlands)
St. Brendan holding a mass on the back of a whale from Nova typis transacta navigatio novi orbis Indiæ occidentalis, by Bernardo Buil in 1621
(via Streets of Salem)
A marine dragon from Monstrorum Historia, by Ulissi Aldrovandi, first published around 1642
(via Paul K)
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