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    An ‘Ethiopian dragon’

    Date
    1640
    Creator
    Unknown, Engraver
    Object type
    Library reference
    24768
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 210mm
    width (print): 340mm
    Subject
    Description
    Plate showing the ‘Draco Aethiopicus’ (Ethiopian dragon).

    From the book Serpentum et draconum historiae [Natural History of Snakes and Dragons] by Ulisse Aldrovandi (Bologna, 1640).
    Object history
    Ulisse Aldrovandi, or Aldrovandus (1522-1605) was an Italian naturalist and specimen collector, whose ‘cabinet of curiosities’ was one of the most impressive examples of this type of early museum collection. In the Serpentum et draconum historiae, published posthumously, Aldrovandi combined detailed descriptions of real snakes with more fanciful accounts of creatures related to him by merchants and travellers
    Associated place
    <The World>
       > Europe
          > Italy
    Credit
    © The Royal Society
    Image number
    RS.10449
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