Sea Dragon 16th-17th century

Benedetto Brandimarti’s “Sea Dragon,” a 16th to 17th century drawing on paper, depicts a fantastical creature with the head and body of a horse and the tail of a dragon, resting on a rocky outcrop. Brandimarti, known for his meticulous draftsmanship, used precise hatching and cross-hatching to define the animal’s form and texture, lending it a sense of realism. This drawing exemplifies the Renaissance interest in natural history, drawing inspiration from the classical world. The “Sea Dragon,” though fictional, is a testament to the artist's skill in capturing the details of animal anatomy and the imaginative power of the human mind.