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Shall we begin with P is for PORCUPINE on today's @LockdownBestia1? This particular beastie comes from @sandiegozoo.
Pliny recounted that the porcupine “is a species of hedgehog, but the quills of the porcupine are longer, and when it stretches the skin, it discharges them like so many missiles.” Most of this is incorrect. #LockdownBestiary
To Pliny’s credit, Aristotle seems to have started the rumor of quills-as-missiles in ‘The History of Animals.’ #LockdownBestiary
Moving up to the medieval period, a wee porcupine stands here in the shadow of a confusingly-shaped lion in the sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt (c.1225-1235) ( @laBnF). #LockdownBestiary
John of Mandeville described them as “Urchounes, als grete as wylde Swyn here. Wee clepen hem Poriz de Spyne” (“hedgehogs, as big as wild pigs, here; we call them porcupines).” #LockdownBestiary
The BN Ms. Fr. 2810 ( @laBnF) contains a miniature with Marco Polo’s travels, showing some hunting dogs about to endure a prickly encounter. #LockdownBestiary
It was supposedly the porcupine’s innate capacity for bravery, as demonstrated by its quills, that led Louis I, Duke of Orléans, to create the Order of the Porcupine, or Ordre du Porc-Épic, to celebrate the baptism of his son, Charles. #LockdownBestiary
Charles’s own son, Louis XII, disbanded the order but kept the porcupine, as seen on this cast of a medal ( @YaleArtGallery). #LockdownBestiary
And @adamghooks shares George Puttenham’s take on porcupines in his ‘Arte of English Poesie,’ as well as their inclusion in the Sidney family crest. #LockdownBestiary
Meanwhile, these delightful quill-pigs popped up no fewer than three times in the margins of Sir William Porter of Lincolnshire’s 14th century Book of Hours ( @MorganLibrary). #LockdownBestiary
And the ghost of Hamlet’s father bemoaned his pointed fate. #LockdownBestiary
Jan Brueghel the Elder included two porcupines in the foreground of his “Where’s Waldo?”-esque painting, “The Entry of the Animals into Noah's Ark” (1613) ( @GettyMuseum). #LockdownBestiary
NB: If anyone needs more similarly incisive art commentary, I'm available. #LockdownBestiary
Finally, it is rumored, albeit unconfirmed, that the collective noun for a group of porcupines is a prickle. #LockdownBestiary
Sources for these tidbits include: #LockdownBestiary
Thank you again to @manymanyplies and @eparpillee for organizing this marvelous menagerie! #LockdownBestiary
And a special appreciative shout-out to @larsdatter, who has an incredible collection of porcupine images, including many not in this thread! http://www.larsdatter.com/porcupines.htm
