I have long been drawn to the study of illuminated manuscripts, both Hebrew and Christian, first for their delicate beauty and fanciful imagery, then as expressions by artists in medieval times who reconciled their creative gifts with their religious sanctions. In an era when European travelers to other lands brought back tales of exotic creatures and botanical forms, imaginative artists drew from these descriptions, enhancing and often abstracting their images to suitably decorate formal religious documents. While we are largely unrestricted today in our freedom of artistic expression, I have chosen to honor the efforts of those artists who followed their faith yet passionately pursued their colorful dreams. In 'A Benighted Bestiary ', my calligraphic vision of the second commandment, the letters themselves are unconventional in both form and placement while they support a menagerie of creatures born of our collective imagination.