Animals and mythical creatures from ancient times to modern times. Papers from an exhibition at the Swiss National Museum and Zurich State Museum, March 1 - July 14, 2013.

Today we know that creatures such as unicorns, dragons, phoenixes, basilisks and centaurs arise from human imagination. We clearly distinguish between humans, animals and mythical creatures. But mythical animals still play an important role in music, religion, art and literature today. Even as children we get to know dragons, witches and devils, meet a sphinx in Egypt with Asterix and Obelix or watch films like Walt Disney's Mowgli, Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter or James Cameron's Avatar. Their success shows that fantastic stories of mythical creatures and magical animals can still inspire. Deer antlers have been an image of deity for thousands of years. The eagle has always been considered powerful, the horse elegant and strong. The snake is not only cunning and dangerous, it was also said to have healing powers, so that it is still a symbol of the medical and pharmaceutical professions today. Using the example of selected animals and hybrid creatures, the exhibition ANIMALI tells of the characteristics and symbolism that were attributed to them from antiquity to the Enlightenment. - [Introduction]

Language: German

978-3-905875-35-5