Elephas Anthropogenus

After the fall of the Roman Empire, elephants virtually disappeared from Western Europe.
Since there was no real knowledge of how this animal actually looked, illustrators had to rely on oral and written transmissions to morphologically reconstruct the elephant, thus reinventing an actual existing creature. This tree diagram traces the evolution of the elephant depiction throughout the middle ages up to the age of enlightenment.

~1230
~1385
1479
1676
~1650
1597
~1650
1592
1585
1582
~1580
~1580
1578
~1550
1530-1561
1520-1530
1482
1480-1485
~1480
1470
1470-1472
1470-1480
~1470
~1450
1452
~1450
~1450
~1450
1400-1450
~1450
1410-1412
~1450
~1450
~1450
1450-1500
1450-1500
1450-1475
1449-1477
1447-1455
1447-1455
1447-1455
1410-1412
1410-1412
1410-1412
~1424
~1375
~1366
1362-1363
~1375
~1325
1325-1350
1473
1313
~1300
~1300
~1300
1293
1290-1300
~1250
~1250
1250-1275
~1400
1250-1275
1200-1210
~1445
~1186
1050-1075
1200-1210
0900-1000
~1450
~1450
1475-1500
1505
~1440
~1350
~1350
1275-1300
1275-1300
~1230
~1230
~1450
1461
1559
1478-1506
~1475
1250-1275
1793
1765
~1675
1745-1747
1746 - 1755
1652
1663
1672
~1650
1639-1644
1646
1629
1582
1587
~1575
1565
1559
~1500
1550-1570
1552
1574
1552
1552
1539
1511
1536
1514
~1510
1508
1501
~1500
1482
1485-1499
1487
1500-1550
~1500
~1475
1482
1470-1482
1471
~1475
1475-1500
1470-1480
1460-1470
~1450
~1350
1450-1500
~1450
1450-1475
1444
1420-1430
~1360
1442-1448
1304-1321
1300-1350
~1270-1290
1230-1240
1230-1240
1225-1250
~1200
~1185
~1025
1175-1200
~1185
1150-1250
1025 - 1050
1350-1400
1664
~1275
1275-1300
~1258
~1250
1250-1275
1236-1245
1255-1259
~1250
~1450
Elephas Anthropogenus

( click on drawings for magnification & additional information )

2008 | inkjet-pigment-print on canvas ( 225 cm x 150 cm ) | cardstand

This work was part of my Masterthesis at the Institute for Art in Context of the UdK, University of Arts, Berlin

A manuscript about this work was published in 2015 in Zoologischer Anzeiger Vol. 256,
Journal of Comparative Zoology, Munich, Germany, Elsevier, ISSN 00445231, pp. 36-41


Since 2009 it is on permanent display at Phyletisches Museum, Jena, Germany

All content © Uli Westphal. Please respect the copyright.