Scorpio
Dino/Lizard Scorpius
Standing Scorpio (the dino/long-legged style) was at least partly disseminated from the carvings on French churches (this was mentioned in my blog about Scorpio). The awareness of the idea may have been more related to these portals than to manuscripts in this area because only a few people had access to manuscripts, whereas everyone could see the decorations on churches.
The earliest carvings I was able to find that many people were able to see were in the northern-French/Flanders/Normandy area, carved into portals. There's a brontosaurus-style Scorpius with long legs in Basilique St.-Madeleine, Vezelay (W. Burgundy) from c. 1130.
Around the same time, one was created in St. Lazare, a Clunaic church. It's hard to know if it's a dino-Scorpio or lizard-Scorpio because it's carved from the top, which means the partly spread legs may have been done that way simply so they could be seen (and because it's difficult to carve high-relief to get the legs underneath). And I've already mentioned in my blog and upthread the tarask/dino Scorpius on the Chartres north portal c. 1198 to c. 1217.
The earliest manuscript I know with an actual lizard (legs spread to the side rather than underneath) is MS Reg. Lat. 438, which has a distinctly Roman feel to the palette and drawing style, and the way the clothing was depicted. It was created at Reichenau (Alsace), after 855, perhaps late in the late 9th century. The lizard is climbing a pillar and I think it's pretty certain it is a lizard. Since this was one of the largest scriptoria in Europe, one would expect it to influence many other manuscripts, and yet the idea of a lizard (a real lizard) never really caught on in a big way. The Tarask-style, frog-style, and dragon-style seem to have taken its place—maybe a lizard wasn't considered glamorous enough.
Cotton MS Nero C IV has a mammalian-style Scorpius with a mutiply curled tail (it's quite dog-like). It's Anglo-Norman, which makes sense since the other dino-style scorpios are from the same general region. It's c. 1200 give or take a few decades. Then comes MS D.6 Psalter from England, c. 1215 (this image has been uploaded by several people).It has a curled tail.
Frog-Scorpius
The frog-scorpions may have originated in Leon (c. 1063). There is one on the font of St. Augustine's church in England, from the 11th or 12th century, but it may have been brought to England from France (perhaps southern France???).
Dragon-Scorpius
In England, the dragon scorpios start showing up around 1080 or so (example: Arundel 60). There's a really elaborate one in the Hunterian Psalter (c. 1170). Walters 73 (England), has a winged two-headed dragon (c. 1195).
Turtle-Scorpius
The frog and the turtle are the least common styles of Scorpius. The earliest "turtle-Scorpius" I've seen is Hildegard von Bingen's and another shows up about a century later (c. 1220) in Cod.1.2.4.19 Augsburg Psalterium. Since the tarasque was sometimes depicted as part turtle, it's possible that these turtle-scorpions are intended as tarasques (there's no consistency in how the tarasque was drawn, it was everything from rhino to turtle to conventional dragon... the only way you know it's a tarask for certain is when it is associated with St. Margaret).
As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one who has made a concerted study of the distinctions between the different Scorpios and where they originated and I have much more data on this, this is just a selection of important early examples.
Libra
The scales on Bodley Marsh 144 (with Arabic annotations) is spread a little wider than usual, as is the VMS, and are squared-off. The chain connectors are loops, however.
Dino/Lizard Scorpius
Standing Scorpio (the dino/long-legged style) was at least partly disseminated from the carvings on French churches (this was mentioned in my blog about Scorpio). The awareness of the idea may have been more related to these portals than to manuscripts in this area because only a few people had access to manuscripts, whereas everyone could see the decorations on churches.
The earliest carvings I was able to find that many people were able to see were in the northern-French/Flanders/Normandy area, carved into portals. There's a brontosaurus-style Scorpius with long legs in Basilique St.-Madeleine, Vezelay (W. Burgundy) from c. 1130.
Around the same time, one was created in St. Lazare, a Clunaic church. It's hard to know if it's a dino-Scorpio or lizard-Scorpio because it's carved from the top, which means the partly spread legs may have been done that way simply so they could be seen (and because it's difficult to carve high-relief to get the legs underneath). And I've already mentioned in my blog and upthread the tarask/dino Scorpius on the Chartres north portal c. 1198 to c. 1217.
The earliest manuscript I know with an actual lizard (legs spread to the side rather than underneath) is MS Reg. Lat. 438, which has a distinctly Roman feel to the palette and drawing style, and the way the clothing was depicted. It was created at Reichenau (Alsace), after 855, perhaps late in the late 9th century. The lizard is climbing a pillar and I think it's pretty certain it is a lizard. Since this was one of the largest scriptoria in Europe, one would expect it to influence many other manuscripts, and yet the idea of a lizard (a real lizard) never really caught on in a big way. The Tarask-style, frog-style, and dragon-style seem to have taken its place—maybe a lizard wasn't considered glamorous enough.
Cotton MS Nero C IV has a mammalian-style Scorpius with a mutiply curled tail (it's quite dog-like). It's Anglo-Norman, which makes sense since the other dino-style scorpios are from the same general region. It's c. 1200 give or take a few decades. Then comes MS D.6 Psalter from England, c. 1215 (this image has been uploaded by several people).It has a curled tail.
Frog-Scorpius
The frog-scorpions may have originated in Leon (c. 1063). There is one on the font of St. Augustine's church in England, from the 11th or 12th century, but it may have been brought to England from France (perhaps southern France???).
Dragon-Scorpius
In England, the dragon scorpios start showing up around 1080 or so (example: Arundel 60). There's a really elaborate one in the Hunterian Psalter (c. 1170). Walters 73 (England), has a winged two-headed dragon (c. 1195).
Turtle-Scorpius
The frog and the turtle are the least common styles of Scorpius. The earliest "turtle-Scorpius" I've seen is Hildegard von Bingen's and another shows up about a century later (c. 1220) in Cod.1.2.4.19 Augsburg Psalterium. Since the tarasque was sometimes depicted as part turtle, it's possible that these turtle-scorpions are intended as tarasques (there's no consistency in how the tarasque was drawn, it was everything from rhino to turtle to conventional dragon... the only way you know it's a tarask for certain is when it is associated with St. Margaret).
As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one who has made a concerted study of the distinctions between the different Scorpios and where they originated and I have much more data on this, this is just a selection of important early examples.
Libra
The scales on Bodley Marsh 144 (with Arabic annotations) is spread a little wider than usual, as is the VMS, and are squared-off. The chain connectors are loops, however.
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