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Greek

Funerary Lion, ca. 390-380 BCE

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Greek

Title

Funerary Lion

Year

ca. 390-380 BCE

Medium

Pentelic marble

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • pentelic marble

Dimensions

46 x 96.8 x 27 cm (18 1/8 x 38 1/8 x 10 5/8 inches)

Place

Attica

Type

  • Sculpture

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

15.003

Projects & Publications

Publications

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Classical Sculpture

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries

This crouching lion once functioned as the symbolic guardian of a grave in Athens or in the surrounding countryside. With its head turned and mouth open, it was poised to pounce on any intruder. Guarding family burial plots situated along the roads leading out of Athens, lions such as this fulfilled a two-fold purpose: to protect the tomb and to highlight the wealth and prestige of the family. The unrealistic rendering of the lion’s face, mane, and body reflects the fact that Greek artists at this time, having never seen lions, based their depictions of them on large dogs and domestic cats.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Funerary Lion with the accession number of 15.003. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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