Catarina Pignato, MA

Noah’s Ark
Watercolour and gold on paper
36 x 45 cm

Artist Statement

The Physiologus was one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages. Some of its legends, which draw moral lessons from the natural world—concerning beasts, stones, and trees—are allegorised versions of tales found in many ancient traditions.

The original book was written in Alexandria, between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD and its name can be translated as “The Naturalist”. Its unknown author shares the idea that Nature —the physical world and everything in it not made by people— is a living, perceiving force, possessing within Herself the source of energy and movement, an understanding of Her own soul integrated with the Divine Intelligence that guides the universe.

Just as God created humankind in His own image, He also fashioned other beings as reflections of divine archetypes. Even the tiniest seed was believed to carry His image and likeness. Animals were seen as mirrors of human psychology—used not to reflect oneself, but as metaphors for the virtues and vices observed in others; like the deceitful fox who plays tricks, the elephant whose copulating is free from wicked desire or the beaver who castrates himself in face of danger.

From the eighth century European version of the Physiologus, the legends were passed onto the Christian world, followed by a new type of nature book —the Bestiary. These texts, like the famous Bestiary of Aberdeen, absorbed and expanded nearly all of the animals in the Physiologus. Some later versions contain the description of more than 150 creatures, often put into categories like mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles.

In the collection of images of this exhibition, you will find different techniques and media— from watercolour on animal skin to ceramic tiles—all of them with something in common: the relationships with the Physiologus and the legends there described. The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts has allowed me to dive into the visual world of animals represented in the arts and crafts of different cultures.

I hope the viewer recognises Beauty in the images presented on the sheets of vellum covered with ink and pigment, and sees also that they transport us immediately to another world. They are the result of acute observation as well as inner contemplation ensuring these timeless stories are alive today, their power undiminished by time.