From griffins and giants to demons and dragons, monsters have enthralled people throughout time. In medieval art and literature, these fanciful creatures give form to fears, curiosities, and fantasies of the unfamiliar and the unknown. Medieval Monsters, organized by the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, will present a lively array of monsters that appear in more than fifty illuminated manuscripts from the European Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Each of the three sections of the exhibition—Terrors, Aliens, and Wonders—will explore the ways monsters functioned as the embodiment of power, the representation of marginalized groups in society, or the inspiration of awe.

Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders is organized by the Morgan Library & Museum, New York.

The Blanton presentation is organized by Holly Borham, Assistant Curator, Prints & Drawings, Blanton Museum of Art

Image credit: Jean Poyer, Saint Martha Taming the Tarasque (detail), from Hours of Henry VIII, ca. 1500, 10 1/16 x 7 1/16 in., The Morgan Library & Museum, MS H.8, fol.191v, Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977, Photography by Graham S. Haber, 2017