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.

First page (fol. 286r) depicts lion and panther
Elephant (fol. 287r)
Caladrius and ostrich (fol. 290r)