Treasures of the Bodleian

Pursuing her stolen cub, the tiger pictured here is tricked into thinking her reflection in a glass thrown by the thief is her cub. She is further fooled by a second glass, which she tries to suckle, her memory of the first trick erased by the over-intensity of maternal love. The bestiary text added a Christian moral dimension to the natural history of the ancient world. This is a fine example of English illumination from the 13th century.