These paintings are truer than photorealism. They signify the essence of each animal, make it comprehensible to someone who has never seen one. It is a different mode of communication, not merely to depict (and therefore usurp) reality, but to translate ideas, meaning https://twitter.com/DannyDutch/status/1313211950738870272

What communicates the essence of whale better to a medieval landsman: a funny grey blob, or a huge creature which is mammal but swims like a fish?

Any medieval man would know what happens when a hog gets loose in a garden, the snail is equally rapacious

The fish tail simply demonstrates the amphibiousness of the beaver

"Haha medieval man dumb, we've progressed so far, I have access to overwhelming amounts of contextless information therefore I am intelligent"
Medieval man understood symbolism, visual metaphor, the medium distinct from content, you are bug-brained hyperreality victim, shut up