Album Sheet with a Civet, anonymous, c. 1572

pen and brown and black ink, watercolour on paper, h 176mm × w 294mm More details

Even if stiff, the strict profile view seen here is typical of natural history illustrations of the time. It was probably a deliberate choice by the artist to give the depiction on objective ‘scientific’ status by focussing on the animal’s colour and markings. Civet cats are native to Africa and Asia, but this one – given its collar – must have been held in captivity.