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art-stuff: rhea137: libraryland: thehermitage:


Russian Lubok (popular print)

Inscription on the top:

“A copy [of the news] from the Spanish town of Vigo from the 6th of April. The fishermen of the village of Fustin (Enfesta?) caught a sea monster or the so-called water man and with great difficulty dragged him by force in the net ashore. This amazing and rarely seen monstrum or”

Inscription under the picture:

“sea wonder is from head to foot about 6 feet tall. Its head resembles a stake and is so smooth that it does not have even one hair on the top, only at the bottom it has a beard with long strands. The skin on its head and on the whole body is black and in some places covered with thin hair.
The neck of this water(??) old man is extremely long and the body unusually long and thick but in many respects it resembles the human body. The forearms and arms are very short, the palms are quite short, while the fingers are very long and up to the first joint, like a goose’s feet, they are grown together and from there they go like human fingers.
Its extraordinarily long nails resemble animals’ and even though this monstrosity has low hanging breasts, it is, by all indications, of masculine gender. Its loins are short and grown together to the knees, and the shins are not very long either, but they are separated.
Even though its feet are quite similar to human, the large toes hang quite close to each other like duck’s feet. On its heels it has fish’s scales, and on the skin of its back at the very bottom a bone has grown.
A fin sticking out from it is just like a woman’s fan, about 12 inches long, and when it opens it reaches even more than 12 inches.

This was from the St. Petersburg News in 1739

Source

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Do go to the source if you like these. I loved the prints and the folk mythology behind them is fascinating.

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