75 animals live on a great ring at the center of Parma.
A rare specimen of “hatted” dog stands next to a unicorn and a hare, and just ahead there are the marine cat and the marine dog, a war elephant and a roe deer.
There are also a few divinities, and legendary creatures such as the centaur and the siren, as well as the personifications of Virtues.
Just like a big zoo, this series of bas reliefs sculpted by Benedetto Antelami around the Baptistery collectively makes up his Zoophorus. Through his composition, the artists wanted to inspire a reflection on the consequences of a life of vices and passions, expressed by a great inventory of animal or animal-like creatures and a selection of less-than-human behaviors.
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