Mythical Creatures

In medieval times some churches even kept animal horns in their treasuries, in the belief that they belonged to unicorns. In reality, these horns came from narwals, a small species of whale. The Rijksmuseum collection holds three such horns that stood for many centuries on the altar of St Mary’s Church, Utrecht. Paulus Potter’s painting Orpheus and the Animals presents an eclectic collection of real and imaginary animals, including a unicorn. Similarly wondrous and fabulous beasts can be found on prints from outside Europe. In most cases, the maker of these prints would not have seen the animals themself, and would base their depiction on travel stories. These unknown species certainly capture our imagination.