Wiener Moamin

Wiener Moamin – The Hunting Classic of the Middle Ages

The "Wiener Moamin" is a magnificently illustrated manuscript on falconry and hunting with dogs, created around 1275 in Italy. Based on an Arabic treatise on hunting that Emperor Frederick II had translated into Latin, the work combines knowledge about the training, care, and diseases of hunting falcons and dogs.

The five-part work contains 101 vividly colored initials depicting scenes of falcons in action, their collaboration with hunting dogs, and the healing arts of medieval falconers. A unique feature: Instructions to the miniaturist in Italian provide a rare insight into the creative process of the manuscript.

A masterpiece of hunting literature – and a testament to Frederick II's passionate dedication to falconry as both a science and an art.