A horned and winged monster with the foot of a bird. Illustration from Opera omnia by Ulisse Aldrovandi, 17th century. In 1512, a Florentine apothecary, Lucca Landucci, described a monster born in Ravenna as having a single horn, bat-like wings, a serpentine and hermaphrodic lower body, a single eye set in its knee, and an eagle-like claw for a foot. The monster was most likely a child born with a severe and unusual genetic disorder. Records indicate that Pope Julius II ordered the child starved to death. Exaggerated woodcuts of the "monster" proliferated across Europe. Colorized.

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Photo credit: © Science History Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., 16th, 17th, aldrovandi, art, bird-, century, colorized, creature, deformed, disorder, engraving, enhanced, genetic, hermaphrodic, history, horned, illustration, intersex, italian, medical, medicine, monster, omnia, opera, person, print, ravenna, ulisse, winged