Contemporary California artist Walton Ford had the cheeky inspiration to depict the legendary griffins of Queen Califia in a style reminiscent of a 19th-century ornithology plate. Ford’s California griffin is a monster not of the Old World’s lions and eagles, but of the New World’s cougars and condors. In the Getty’s cuddly new exhibit “The Book of Beasts,” about the medieval bestiary, Ford’s is one of the last pieces you see before exiting to the gift shop. After immersion in the middle ages, the viewer sees this and makes a jarringly comical skip-and-jump to the 16th century, and the 19th, and the 21st.

The scherzo is based on the Spanish comic-book romance Esplandian (1500?) which was either one of the very last medieval books or one of the very first modern books. But in 1522 it was read — and apparently at least partly believed in — by Hernan Cortez. And Cortez, dulled by the conquest of Mexico and yearning for more, launched expeditions from Mexico to find this island of gold ruled by hot babes with that Malibu tan. He thought this land must be behind the headland we know as Cabo San Lucas.

Cortez found no griffins in Baja and gave up, but not before coasting the “Sea of Cortez” (also known as the Gulf of California). And it was Cortez’s name for the land floating in that sea that would stick on Spanish maps; the island of California. Here’s the famous passage that piqued Cortez’s codpiece:

“Know that, on the right hand of the Indies was an island called California, very near to the region of the Terrestrial Paradise, which was populated by black women, without there being any men among them, that almost like the Amazons was their style of living. They were of vigorous bodies and strong and ardent hearts and of great strength; the island itself the strongest in steep rocks and cliff boulders that is found in the world; their arms were all of gold, and also the harnesses of the wild beasts, on which, after having tamed them, they rode; that in all the island there was no other metal whatsoever… On this island, called California there were many griffins … and in the time that they had young these women would — take them to their caves, and there raise them. And … they fattened them on those men and the boys that they had born… Any make that entered the island was killed and eaten by them … There ruled on that island of California, a queen great of body, very beautiful for her race, at a flourishing age, desirous in her thoughts of achieving great things, valiant in strength, cunning in her brave heart, more than any other who had ruled that kingdom before her: Queen Califia.”

Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo, “The Adventures of Esplandian,” @ 1500

But the star of the exhibit, and the metaphorical darling of our day, is the Unicorn. His evolution in the medieval imagination, along with other fabulous fauna like manticores and dragons, are presented through fine and decorative arts pieces that molded that imagination.

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“The symbolism of the mother pelican feeding her little baby pelicans is rooted in an ancient legend which preceded Christianity. The legend was that in time of famine, the mother pelican wounded herself, striking her breast with the beak to feed her young with her blood to prevent starvation. Another version of the legend was that the mother fed her dying young with her blood to revive them from death, but in turn lost her own life.

Given this tradition, one can easily see why the early Christians adapted it to symbolize our Lord, Jesus Christ. The pelican symbolizes Jesus our Redeemer who gave His life for our redemption and the atonement He made through His passion and death. We were dead to sin and have found new life through the Blood of Christ. Moreover, Jesus continues to feed us with His body and blood in the holy Eucharist.

This tradition and others is found in the Physiologus, an early Christian work which appeared in the second century in Alexandria, Egypt. Written by an anonymous author, the Physiologus recorded legends of animals and gave each an allegorical interpretation. For instance the phoenix, which burns itself to death and rises on the third day from the ashes, symbolizes Christ who died for our sins and rose on the third day to give us the promise of everlasting life. The unicorn which only allows itself to be captured in the lap of a pure virgin, symbolizes the incarnation. Here too the legend of the pelican feeding her young is described: “The little pelicans strike their parents, and the parents, striking back, kill them. But on the third day the mother pelican strikes and opens her side and pours blood over her dead young. In this way they are revivified and made well. So Our Lord Jesus Christ says also through the prophet Isaiah: I have brought up children and exalted them, but they have despised me (Is 1:2). We struck God by serving the creature rather than the Creator. Therefore He deigned to ascend the cross, and when His side was pierced, blood and water gushed forth unto our salvation and eternal life.” This work was noted by St. Epiphanius, St. Basil and St. Peter of Alexandria. It was also popular in the Middle Ages and was a source for the symbols used in the various stone carvings and other artwork of that period.”

— Fr. William Saunders, The Catholic Education Resource Center website

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