This piece is a Medieval representation of a harpy. A harpy is a combination of a woman’s head and a bird’s body. The image is taken from an ink drawing that can be found in Der Naturen Bloeme, a.k.a “the book of nature” or “the flower of nature”. This book was written by Jacob van Maerlant, a dutch poet from the 13th century. It was written in Dutch as an adaption of the philosopher Thomas of Compre’s De Natura Rerum. It is speculate that the book was originally published in Flanders. It was made as an encyclopedia of nature, although it lacked scientific facts to back up the work. The book was written on vellum, a parchment made of calfskin, and it was bound in leather. The book is now held at the National Library of the Netherlands.
