DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0233
Gate'
scheme
L.M.I*.
ANTITHETIC SCHEME AND 'LIONS' GATE' MOTIVE 585
an ally or double, each struggling with a lion antithetically disposed,1 and
it is this version that we recognize in the gold signet-ring (Fig. 574)
formerly in the Museum of Peronne.2
Of the scheme in which a hero or divinity stands between two opposed Kre-
animals or monsters, several good examples have been given in which the ?L™^.of
Goddess herself or the young God forms the centre of the composition.
These, like the kindred motives in which two similar forms confront a from
central object of a sacred character, such as a tree or a baetylic pillar or altar,
be°in to be of frequent occurrence in the mature stage of the First Late
Minoan Period (L. M. I l>) as is evidenced, for instance, by the fine intaglio
from the Vapheio Tomb where the two Genii pour libations before a
nursling palm.3 The' Lions' Gate' scheme itself appears on Zakro seals of
the transitional M. M. Ill 6-h. M. I a epoch, and from L. M. 16 onwards is
of continual recurrence.
Throughout the L. M. II Period these antithetic combinations are
specially frequent in a religious connexion. The signet types found in
association with the late shrine on the Central Court will at once occur to
mind, with the Goddess on the peak between her lion supporters.* Many
such designs occurred too among the clay seal impressions from the latest
deposits in other quarters of the Palace.5
An outgrowth of the Lions' Gate type is to be found in that in which Single-
. headed
two bodies have a single head. A variation of this is supplied by another fine ' Lions'
sard lentoid, Fig, 575 (Suppl. PI. LV,/). We have here a powerfully executed J^f and
symmetrical group of a huge horned sheep (which except for the charac-
teristic horns might well be a bull) attacked by a lion.c The effect of
the head with a body on either side, at first sight conveys the idea of one
of the doubled-bodied figures elsewhere connected with versions of the
T *
Lions Gate motive. Examples are given for comparison from Mycenae
in Figs. 576, 577, a Kriosphinx with a ram's head facing, two lions' bodies
and four wings,' and a double-bodied lion in the same guise s
1 E.g. Coll. tie Cltrc, 4S; Hayes Ward, p..61, Figs. 37, 38. Fig. 576 is a jasper lentoid
op. at., p. 66, No. T64. from a chamber-tomb of Mycenae (Tsountas,
" -P. et C., vi; p. 864, ;Fig. 430: drawing by 'E<£. 'ApX., 188S, PI. X, 30 and p. 17S;
St. Eime Gamier. P. et C, Fig. 428, 17; Furtwangler, A.G.,
See above, pp. 453, 454, Fig. 378. PL III, 24). The design is accompanied
See below, p. 60S, Fig. 597 a, e. by the 'impaled triangle' symbol. See, too,
\ See a- P. et C, vi, p. 845, Fig. 428, 17.
' J-D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection " A sard also from a Chamber Tomb;
"/Ancient Gems, No. 2, p. 1 and PL I, 2. 'Ity. 'APX., 1S8S, PL X, 2 ; Furtw., op. cit..
' See A.E., Myc. Tree and Pillar Cult, PL III, 23 ; P. et C, vi, PL XVI, 20.
bizarre
variation.
scheme
L.M.I*.
ANTITHETIC SCHEME AND 'LIONS' GATE' MOTIVE 585
an ally or double, each struggling with a lion antithetically disposed,1 and
it is this version that we recognize in the gold signet-ring (Fig. 574)
formerly in the Museum of Peronne.2
Of the scheme in which a hero or divinity stands between two opposed Kre-
animals or monsters, several good examples have been given in which the ?L™^.of
Goddess herself or the young God forms the centre of the composition.
These, like the kindred motives in which two similar forms confront a from
central object of a sacred character, such as a tree or a baetylic pillar or altar,
be°in to be of frequent occurrence in the mature stage of the First Late
Minoan Period (L. M. I l>) as is evidenced, for instance, by the fine intaglio
from the Vapheio Tomb where the two Genii pour libations before a
nursling palm.3 The' Lions' Gate' scheme itself appears on Zakro seals of
the transitional M. M. Ill 6-h. M. I a epoch, and from L. M. 16 onwards is
of continual recurrence.
Throughout the L. M. II Period these antithetic combinations are
specially frequent in a religious connexion. The signet types found in
association with the late shrine on the Central Court will at once occur to
mind, with the Goddess on the peak between her lion supporters.* Many
such designs occurred too among the clay seal impressions from the latest
deposits in other quarters of the Palace.5
An outgrowth of the Lions' Gate type is to be found in that in which Single-
. headed
two bodies have a single head. A variation of this is supplied by another fine ' Lions'
sard lentoid, Fig, 575 (Suppl. PI. LV,/). We have here a powerfully executed J^f and
symmetrical group of a huge horned sheep (which except for the charac-
teristic horns might well be a bull) attacked by a lion.c The effect of
the head with a body on either side, at first sight conveys the idea of one
of the doubled-bodied figures elsewhere connected with versions of the
T *
Lions Gate motive. Examples are given for comparison from Mycenae
in Figs. 576, 577, a Kriosphinx with a ram's head facing, two lions' bodies
and four wings,' and a double-bodied lion in the same guise s
1 E.g. Coll. tie Cltrc, 4S; Hayes Ward, p..61, Figs. 37, 38. Fig. 576 is a jasper lentoid
op. at., p. 66, No. T64. from a chamber-tomb of Mycenae (Tsountas,
" -P. et C., vi; p. 864, ;Fig. 430: drawing by 'E<£. 'ApX., 188S, PI. X, 30 and p. 17S;
St. Eime Gamier. P. et C, Fig. 428, 17; Furtwangler, A.G.,
See above, pp. 453, 454, Fig. 378. PL III, 24). The design is accompanied
See below, p. 60S, Fig. 597 a, e. by the 'impaled triangle' symbol. See, too,
\ See a- P. et C, vi, p. 845, Fig. 428, 17.
' J-D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection " A sard also from a Chamber Tomb;
"/Ancient Gems, No. 2, p. 1 and PL I, 2. 'Ity. 'APX., 1S8S, PL X, 2 ; Furtw., op. cit..
' See A.E., Myc. Tree and Pillar Cult, PL III, 23 ; P. et C, vi, PL XVI, 20.
bizarre
variation.