DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15094#0046
PLATE XIIL
A fragment of one of the supports of a table, or more probably of
a tripod ; it represents the head of a lion with the horns of a goat.
Underneath the head is a circle composed of leaves, below which,
when perfect, this piece of sculpture terminated in the leg of a lion,
in the same manner as we have already seen in an article lately
described. (1) This head, though it bears the character of a lion,
is in reality that of a griffin, which was a fabulous animal sacred
to Apollo, and was represented partly under the form of an eagle,
and partly under that of a lion. It was usually represented having
the body, legs, and tail of the latter, with the head and wings of
the former. But this mode of representation, though most fre-
quently adopted by the ancients, was not always observed, for we
sometimes see the griffin without any portion of the eagle except
the wings, in which cases we have remarked that the horns of
the goat have been generally affixed to the head.(2) On the
frieze of the temple of Apollo Didymeeus,(3) at Miletus, two of
these animals are guarding the lyre of Apollo, and they are each
distinguished, in like manner, with the head of a lion and the
horns of a goat. Two of these animals are also represented with
the same characteristics on a marble vase,(4) in the collection of
M. Van-Hoorn, an engraving of which has been published by the
learned author of the Monumens Antiques Inedits. Many other in-
stances of the same kind might, if it were necessary, be enumerated.
This fragment is executed with great spirit; it was found in
the year 1769, by Mr. Gavin Hamilton, in the Pantanella, within
the grounds of Hadrian's Villa, near Tivoli.
The foliage underneath the head, the alse of the nose, and both
the horns, with the exception of a small portion towards the base,
have been restored. It measures 1 foot 3^ inches.
1 See Plate III.
1 As the goat was an emblem of fecundity among the ancients, it is not improbable
that the horns of that animal indicate in these instances the prolific qualities of the sun.
3 Ionian Antiquities, Part I. pi. x. fig. 1.
* Millin, Mori. Ant. Ined. torn. 1. pi. xxxi. xxxii. p. 303.
A fragment of one of the supports of a table, or more probably of
a tripod ; it represents the head of a lion with the horns of a goat.
Underneath the head is a circle composed of leaves, below which,
when perfect, this piece of sculpture terminated in the leg of a lion,
in the same manner as we have already seen in an article lately
described. (1) This head, though it bears the character of a lion,
is in reality that of a griffin, which was a fabulous animal sacred
to Apollo, and was represented partly under the form of an eagle,
and partly under that of a lion. It was usually represented having
the body, legs, and tail of the latter, with the head and wings of
the former. But this mode of representation, though most fre-
quently adopted by the ancients, was not always observed, for we
sometimes see the griffin without any portion of the eagle except
the wings, in which cases we have remarked that the horns of
the goat have been generally affixed to the head.(2) On the
frieze of the temple of Apollo Didymeeus,(3) at Miletus, two of
these animals are guarding the lyre of Apollo, and they are each
distinguished, in like manner, with the head of a lion and the
horns of a goat. Two of these animals are also represented with
the same characteristics on a marble vase,(4) in the collection of
M. Van-Hoorn, an engraving of which has been published by the
learned author of the Monumens Antiques Inedits. Many other in-
stances of the same kind might, if it were necessary, be enumerated.
This fragment is executed with great spirit; it was found in
the year 1769, by Mr. Gavin Hamilton, in the Pantanella, within
the grounds of Hadrian's Villa, near Tivoli.
The foliage underneath the head, the alse of the nose, and both
the horns, with the exception of a small portion towards the base,
have been restored. It measures 1 foot 3^ inches.
1 See Plate III.
1 As the goat was an emblem of fecundity among the ancients, it is not improbable
that the horns of that animal indicate in these instances the prolific qualities of the sun.
3 Ionian Antiquities, Part I. pi. x. fig. 1.
* Millin, Mori. Ant. Ined. torn. 1. pi. xxxi. xxxii. p. 303.