At the height of the Renaissance, animal trials3 reading minutes

Le Regard Libre N° 84 - Enzo Santacroce

Man and the animal« dossier»

Animals occupy a central place in the human environment. They are both endearing companions and savage, aggressive beasts to be slaughtered. This ambivalence is, in fact, our own, since ethologists have demonstrated that the continuity between animal and human behavior is based on the search for food, material security and habitat construction. Seduction games are no exception. The similarities are sometimes so disturbing that the definition of man, and his place within nature, are constantly called into question. In the long history of these ambiguous relationships, animal trials, a veritable institution between the 16th and 17th centuries, bear witness to the fascination that animals hold for mankind.