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King Lear and Daughters
From the Northumberland Bestiary
Northumberland or northern England, ca. 1250
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, MS 100
The bestiary, a compendium of animal lore coupled with moral lessons for the Christian reader, enjoyed enormous popularity in the twelfth and thirteenth century, with some illustrated versions relying on simple line drawings and others presenting a series of lavishly painted images embellished with gold leaf. As an accomplished example of the tinted line drawing technique that found favor among English book owners in the mid-thirteenth century, this work stands between these two poles, revealing the ability of draftsmen to create deluxe decorative effects without using deluxe materials.