30-07-2026, 02:18 AM
(29-07-2026, 09:00 PM)eggyk wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The Depiction (eating a tree on a rocky slope)
Well, this depiction (of a creature reaching up onto a tree, or reaching higher, rocky ground) is a semi-common Capricorn depiction. Not Aries.
Indeed, today I learned that while goats commonly stand on their hind legs to reach leaves of bushes or plants growing on walls, sheep are highly unlikely to ever do so. While goats are described as "browsers", sheep are said to be "grazers".
Thus it seems that some scribes who were familiar with those animals would use this behavior as a visual clue to underscore the animal type, "goat" (Capricorn) or "sheep" (Aries).
However, presumably, even back then there were city kids turned scribes who would not be aware of that piece of zoological knowledge, and thus would just as easily depict Aries rampant and Capricorn statant, as their fancy would blow.
Like the VMS scribe...
All the best, --stolfi