War between Cats and Mice

In the 12th century, P�rgg was a seat of the margraves (from 1180 on dukes) of Styria. They had a chapel built and decorated with Romanesque frescoes. The fresco shown in the picture was painted on the southern nave wall near the western wall of the Johannes Chapel in the parish church of P�rgg (Styria). The fresco depicting a battle between mice and cats is part of an extensive “Romanesque Bestiary” whose images are distributed amongst numerous medieval churches and codices. The animals featured often have a basis in zoological reality; but there are just as many cases where they are depicted as monstrous, bizarre and fantastic creatures.