A conceptual internal plant match?

[Koen G]

Well, it depends on how we read the leaf. What I find convincing about it is the trunk: this cannot be explained as part of a normal leaf, and it's typical of the way elephants are portrayed. The curve, the way it continues into a high forehead, the way it gets wider at the end... (It's a shame this is partially hidden in the fold, I would love to see the right end). All of these things were still present to some degree in the earlier 15th century, though I admit it's a struggle to find an overall good elephant. Take You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ca. 1400 Lombardy: it's ugly and wrong, but imagine its head as a leafy profile and you're not that far off.

I just came across a translation from the bestiary of the Book of Treasures by Brunetto Latini (circa 1230-1294), Florentine. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. . He also mentions the mandrake and the dragon:

The nature of the elephants is such that the female, before thirteen, and the male, before fifteen, ignore the meaning of lust; and, even then, they are as chaste that they never fight for a female. Each male has his own female, to whom he stays united forever in such a way that if he loses her, or she loses him, they never have a new partner and they just go alone through the deserts.

In addition, as they do not get lost in lust, the copulation is something that happens by nature. While they are both walking towards East close to the Heaven on Earth, the female finds an herb called mandrake and, after biting it, she feeds the male with it. In that exact moment, they unite to conceive and, some months later, they give birth to a baby elephant, only once in their life, and yet they live almost 300 years.

When the right moment for labor arrives, the female gets into a lake and the male looks after her while she gives birth, as they are afraid of dragons. The dragons, which are the enemies of the elephants, want their blood, because it is not only extremely large in amount, but also the coldest blood in the world.

I suspect that, if we are on the right track here, this concept of water and paradise may have influenced the depiction of the roots. Granted, there are 4 rivers of Paradise while the roots have 6 streams, but the depiction is often similar. Best one I found is this one, 1360 Bavarian: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.