Zirc Bestiary

The Zirc Bestiary (Latin: Bestiarium Zircense, Hungarian: zirci bestiárium; Országos Széchényi Könyvtár Cod.

506) is a 15th-century Hungarian illuminated manuscript copy of a medieval bestiary, a book describing the appearance and habits of a number of familiar and exotic animals, both real and legendary.

The Latin-language work was kept in the Cistercian Zirc Abbey, now it belongs to the property of the National Széchényi Library (OSZK).

The Zirc Bestiary is a sixteen-page long illustrated collection of animals and beasts both real and imaginary, which is located in the last section (fol.

[1] The manuscript is illuminated with pen drawings tinted with red and brown, whose primary purpose was visuality and illustration, so they do not represent artistic value.