Phoenix Ancient Art S.A.

The remarkably modeled body of the animal is almost entirely preserved, while the head, the forelegs and the hind legs are lost.

The lion is depicted sitting: his hindquarters are seated on the ground; his left leg is already partly under him. His tails passes between the buttocks and reappears under his body, forming a sinuous line. The forelegs were certainly not folded yet and supported the weight of the whole body. The mane covered the animal’s head and continued down the back following the spine. The mane is made of numerous small and disordered curls going to the right and the left.

The body is beautifully sculpted and where the anatomical details are marked by a great number of plastic elements finely rendered (ribs, veins, muscles of the paws etc…)

Since the Archaic period, stone lions were regularly associated with funerary monuments. In the 4^th century B.C., this custom was still very important. The lions are set on graves, of which they are the guardians, both in the figurative meaning as they protect against evil spirits but more concretely to discourage thieves.

According to his position, slightly turned to the right, it is possible that this lion formed a symmetrical pair with another one which was installed on the other side of the same tomb and was turned to the left.

Bibliography