Dragons. Fire-breathers.
BNF| N° d'inventaire | 23785 |
| Format | 12 x 17 |
| Détails | 48 p., paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2021 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782717728545 |
A reptilian, flying creature with formidable powers, the dragon has been a staple of the imagination for millennia. Emblematic of the fantastical bestiary, it populates fabulous tales and is a source of exuberant representations.
Most mythologies, whether Mesopotamian, Egyptian or Greek, present the image of the dragon under countless names, at once gods of darkness, goddesses of the oceans or multi-headed serpents, guardians of a treasure...
These representations were often reinforced by the accounts of European travelers or scholars discovering unknown lizards. Marco Polo himself spoke of terrifying snakes off the coast of Yunnan...
In Japan, the dragon watches over wealth and homes, while in China, it carries a unifying symbolism that makes it the sacred emblem of imperial power.
Western peoples, on the other hand, see the dragon as a figure of chaos. The Book of Revelation, for example, describes an immense fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, which threatens the Church and leads men astray.
But the dragon can also free itself from a representation of unequivocally evil. Doesn't Melusine, adorned with her serpent's tail, reveal herself to be a virtuous wife and protective mother?
A reptilian, flying creature with formidable powers, the dragon has been a staple of the imagination for millennia. Emblematic of the fantastical bestiary, it populates fabulous tales and is a source of exuberant representations.
Most mythologies, whether Mesopotamian, Egyptian or Greek, present the image of the dragon under countless names, at once gods of darkness, goddesses of the oceans or multi-headed serpents, guardians of a treasure...
These representations were often reinforced by the accounts of European travelers or scholars discovering unknown lizards. Marco Polo himself spoke of terrifying snakes off the coast of Yunnan...
In Japan, the dragon watches over wealth and homes, while in China, it carries a unifying symbolism that makes it the sacred emblem of imperial power.
Western peoples, on the other hand, see the dragon as a figure of chaos. The Book of Revelation, for example, describes an immense fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, which threatens the Church and leads men astray.
But the dragon can also free itself from a representation of unequivocally evil. Doesn't Melusine, adorned with her serpent's tail, reveal herself to be a virtuous wife and protective mother?