Ingratitude and Cruelty: the Dove and the Basilisk
Two bestiary allegories on the ungrateful young and the deadly gaze
A mirror-script page of Leonardo's moral bestiary with two allegories. Ingratitude is figured by doves, which, once grown past the need to be fed, fight their own father until they drive him out and take his mate for themselves. Cruelty is figured by the basilisk, whose venomous gaze, when it cannot kill animals, is turned on herbs and plants and makes them wither.
On this page
Ingratitudine: doves that drive out their own father
Doves are likened to ingratitude, for when they reach an age at which they no longer need to be fed, they begin to fight with their father. The combat does not end until the young drive out the father and take his mate from him, making her their own.
Crudelta: the basilisk that withers plants with its gaze
The basilisk is of such cruelty that when it cannot kill animals with its venomous gaze, it turns instead to the herbs and plants. Fixing its stare upon them, it makes them wither.