Monsters: A Bestiary of the Bizarre

Description

Monsters have preoccupied mankind from the earliest times: even cave art includes animal-human monsters. Certainly monsters were present in the ancient religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia; the Old Testament describes the giant land and sea monsters Behemoth and Leviathan, while in the world of Classical mythology, monsters embody the fantasies of the gods and the cruellest punishments of human beings. This book explores monsters down the ages and throughout the world. It provides a visual history of the human mind, lit up by flashes of wild and unearthly inspiration.

Christopher Dell holds a degree in the History of Art from the Courtauld Institute, London. He has written and edited many bestselling titles on art and visual culture, including Freemasonry, Mythology, Monsters, What Makes a Masterpiece? and The Occult, Witchcraft & Magic, all published by Thames & Hudson.

'This nightmarish bestiary is sure to stir the bloodthirsty imaginations of nice boys and girls everywhere' - V&A Magazine 'A mis-matched zoo of mind-boggling creations from minotaurs through golems to mermaids, from sphinxes to sirens and shapeshifting nightmares ... takes us to the edge of the cultural map' - The Times