Unknown Maker, Roman

The gaping jaws and bared teeth of this bronze lion’s head convey the strength and ferocity that made lions chosen guardian figures for millennia in both the Greek and Roman worlds. Representations of lions have been discovered in various contexts, appearing on gates and tombs in ancient Greece and on Roman coffins (sarcophagi), where they symbolize victory of the soul over death and evil. The four iron rivets visible in this lion’s mane were the original attachments to a wooden door, chest, or perhaps a sarcophagus.