Central and northern European depictions of elephants were pretty bad until the middle of the 15th century, which I assume is because illustrators had never seen one and relied on other (inaccurate) drawings or oral accounts.
I have quite a few elephant picture links in my files. Here are some of the more realistic ones:
There's a 9th century mosaic in Tunisia that is quite naturalistic.
I think there were several versions of this medal/coin but I don't have time to look them all up right now, but this was designed in the mid-1400s:
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A very accurate depiction from 5th century Turkey, but the elephant's trunk is not visible:
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Mediterranean Byzantine mosaic (not as naturalistic, but moreso than the northern examples):
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Very worn but originally very accurate, a 49 BCE Roman coin with elephant:
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Similar to the above but a much more stylized depiction:
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Naturalistic mosaic, Morocco:
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I have quite a few elephant picture links in my files. Here are some of the more realistic ones:
There's a 9th century mosaic in Tunisia that is quite naturalistic.
I think there were several versions of this medal/coin but I don't have time to look them all up right now, but this was designed in the mid-1400s:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
A very accurate depiction from 5th century Turkey, but the elephant's trunk is not visible:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Mediterranean Byzantine mosaic (not as naturalistic, but moreso than the northern examples):
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Very worn but originally very accurate, a 49 BCE Roman coin with elephant:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Similar to the above but a much more stylized depiction:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Naturalistic mosaic, Morocco:
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