#donkeyoftheday 71:

One of my favourite paintings is "St Francis in the Desert" by Bellini (c.1480) and not only because it has a solitary donkey in it.

But look more closely and it is *not* a donkey!

I'm still reading K.L.Smithies "Introducing the Medieval Ass" (see #libraybooks earlier) and she points out the animal is in fact an onager: a desert wild ass which is "a symbol for monks who shunned the secular world."

#Asstodon #Saturbray #SaintFrancis

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