Griffin Lebes

 GRIFFIN LEBES

This #griffin #lebes or #urn dates from the Hellenistic era probably about 350 BCE.

The griffins seem also plain compared to the florid "Corinthian" ornamentation on the base.

I wonder if perhaps the heads were using for hanging floral memorial wreaths from?

And why Griffins? 

Enjoy!

BYZANTINE GRIFFIN

 #griffin #byzantine #sculpture 

GREEK ART DOES NOT JUST MAGICALLY

 STOP AND START AT THE CLASSICAL ERA. 

It is a continuum.

Jumping forwards a few centuries here is an example that shows how Byzantine art may have influenced Islamic art and how the ancient griffin carvings of Mesopotamia influenced both.

Note the interlacing and the stylised plants and vines forming frames within frames emphasizing the griffin by filling in the background. This very leonine griffin has a birds talons on its forelegs but leonine rear paw and haunches and a mane plus the now traditional raptors beak and ears pointing forwards.

Let me know if you are finding this collection of images useful or enjoyable whether you are an illustrator seeking references or a scholar. Most of my collection came from Wikimedia Commons if you need large sizes go there!

MORE GRIFFINS

 MORE GRIFFINS

Whether the Griffin is depicted in Near Eastern Greek Roman or later art it is consistently shown with a slender feline body often described as leonine though some look more feline and whether or not it has wings a raptors head BUT WITH A CREST . 

One theory is that someone saw a fossil of a crested dinosaur or perhaps a bone deposit of several fossils tangled together but whatever started the stories the griffin is certainly one of the most striking creatures we have legends about and artistic depictions!

Here's some more Griffin art!

Here's a Persian frieze in which the Griffin has horns and a lions face rather than a crest.

More typical of Middle Eastern art was this ivory fragment.

Finally something Hellenic.

This griffin has a rather dragonish crest but the distinctive erect ears and beak and the artist has also included a sphinx and a leopard for contrast or as a complement.

 

Near Eastern Griffin

GRIFFIN IN IVORY  

The images of griffins in Mycenaean Greek Persian and other art had prototypes in works like this.

This is a fragment of a larger item but we can see the leonine or feline tail the avian beak and crest and the plumage of the wings. Check my prior post and wait for the next ones to see other Griffins. 

A MINOAN GRIFFIN

A MINOAN GRIFFIN 

#griffin #minoan #Larnax 

The Griffins from the Knossos Throne room for various pieces of century or seal rings are better known than this work which is somewhat less refined.

 It makes me think of some later Protgeometric and Geometric period art. The wings however instead of being furled or seen in profile are spread up and down across the clay panel which is one side of an larnax. The idea of the griffin being near a plant in bloom is very Minoan and we can see an avian crest and a tapered beak plus a leonine tail. This shows us how far back stories about griffins existed. 

A Mosaic from Olynthus

A Mosaic from the Olynthus colony in northern Greece.

The motif of 2 griffins attacking a deer originated in Central Asia and came to Greece via the Persian Empire. Perhaps the artist saw a woven carpet ?

The Pella Mosaics

The Pella Mosaics

found in Macedonia are a valuable reminder that while the best known ancient mosaics are from the ROMAN era the technique developed elsewhere.

The earliest known use of tiles of clay stone or glass come from Mesopotamia and while the Greeks seem to have preferred frescoes they were also notable mosaic workers .

This image is of a legendary griffin attacking a deer a motif probably taken from Central Asian art via Persia. But notice the Greek touches the delicate shading and the tonal contrasts between the background and foreground.

Beautiful?