Wolfachtige before 1650

Editor: Here we have Antonio Tempesta's "Wolfachtige," a rather peculiar engraving from before 1650, housed at the Rijksmuseum. There’s something almost…comical about it. Like a serious attempt at realism that somehow missed the mark. It’s charming, though! What's your take on this curious creature? Curator: Oh, this isn't just a wolf, you see. It’s *Lupus Cervarius,* a creature from bestiaries, somewhere between lynx and wolf and unicorn! Imagine the poor artist trying to piece this thing together from traveller's tales and maybe the odd badly stuffed specimen! The lines themselves are so… tentative, as if Tempesta isn’t quite convinced it exists either. Does it make you wonder what people *believed* about the world around them back then? Editor: Absolutely! It makes me wonder about the line between scientific illustration and mythical representation at the time. The text at the bottom – what does that tell us? Curator: Ah, that’s Tempesta showing off! Latin and Italian, both names for this fantastical wolf-lynx-thing. I picture him sketching away, muttering about the sheer absurdity of it all. Did artists believe these creatures, or just find the market for them lucrative? Perhaps it fed their own imaginative fire... like dreaming up fantastic characters and places for a video game! Editor: So it's not necessarily about deception, but perhaps embracing a blend of observation and pure fantasy. I guess, it makes me consider the value we place on strict accuracy versus the creative license. Curator: Precisely! It becomes a fascinating cultural artefact. And that's the real magic, isn't it? A glimpse into a mindset so different, yet undeniably creative and wonderfully weird. What did you make of it now? Editor: It gives me an entirely new perspective for an older way of viewing nature through lenses tinted by imagination!