Animal Representation in the Global Middle Ages: Bridging the Natural and Social Worlds

Animals occupied a multivalent space in the medieval world. As part of nature, they were embedded in ecological systems, yet they were also abstracted into symbols of power, religious allegory, and medicinal knowledge—ultimately serving as a nexus between human societies and the natural environment. This panel explores the representation of animals across the global Middle Ages (c. 500–1500 CE), examining how diverse cultures imbued fauna with meaning through their representation. Moving beyond Eurocentric frameworks, we investigate how animal representations functioned as dynamic sites of meaning-making, from the meticulously rendered beasts in Islamic manuscripts, the symbolic menageries of Chinese paintings and prints, to the creatures that materialized along the Afro-Eurasian trade routes.

How did artists and patrons deploy animal iconography to articulate political authority, spiritual ideologies, or ecological knowledge? In what ways did the circulation of creatures, whether real or imagined, confer social prestige or negotiate cultural encounters? How did depictions of animals reflect or shape premodern environmental consciousness? Adopting a global perspective, we seek to illuminate the interconnectedness of medieval visual cultures while challenging anthropocentric narratives in art history. Of particular interest are studies that demonstrate how animals, as living beings and symbolic constructs, actively participated in shaping artistic traditions across regions. We welcome submissions focusing on understudied geographies and encourage interdisciplinary approaches bridging art history and environmental humanities. Ultimately, this panel aims to reconsider the global Middle Ages through its creaturely representations, revealing how such species—real, mythical, and metamorphic—fundamentally shaped medieval visual knowledge.

Session format

The session will include between three and eight 20-minute research papers, each followed by 5 minutes for questions.

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Yuxi Pan, SOAS University of London, 714232@soas.ac.uk