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A black cat stands in an awkward profile pose, on hind legs with one front paw raised and one lowered, looking directly into the camera while holding a small red fluffy toy in its mouth. Caption: Basically, any European coat of arms…
(alt text by @dgar@aus.social)
I’m insomnia scrolling and BAM this just made my night. I always wondered why they did drew them like that. It gives such a “yes Bartholomew I know what a lion looks like” vibe but then you have real life derps and it’s amazing. Thanks for sharing!
They mostly drew stuff like that because it was popular at the time. People knew how to draw more realistic pictures since, I think, Ancient Greece. At least, they knew about perspective and stuff. But that only resurfaced during the Renaissance, when ancient stuff became popular again
I blame technology for that one. Animals on coats of arms are created in one, maybe two colors, they are to be replicated in various sizes and materials. It’s a simplified shape that is easy to copy and can still be read on flags, on documents etc.
Hahah man, styles have changed a lot. Thank you for your informative reply, I’m headed down a Wikipedia rabbit hole 😁
Another consideration is recognizeability and reproduction. When you want hundreds of banners, or maybe even put the image into thousands of metal armors, you don’t want a superrealistic picture.
That doesn’t really answer why they drew it like that though.
Surely there’s a reason why that particular style became popular.
A black cat rampant on a white background.
And yes, this got me mirthful. :)