Revenge of the Fluffy Bunnies

I am by parts both fascinated and amused by evil bunnies in medieval art.

Upper image: unknown. Lower image: Liebres cazando hombres. Al margen de un manuscrito francés del siglo XIII

The usual imagery of the bunny in medieval manuscripts (and in most art to be fair) is of purity and helplessness and fertility.  Rabbits are symbolic of docility, fecundity and pusillanimity.  They're right there, at the bottom of the food chain, eating boring vegetation and scurrying into a hole at the first smell of confrontation.

However, deep within that cute, fluffy facade lurks a ruthless troublemaker just waiting for the right time to enact it's furry revolution.

Rabbit and Goliath, Pontifical of Renaud de Bar, France ca. 1303-1316 (Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 298, fol. 7r)

It's just the perfect mix of humour and whimsy.  I mean, who doesn't love a rabbit with a slingshot and what looks like a snake[?]? 😆