DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0131
LIONS IN ASSYRIAN ART.
99
plunge. That dogs of such huge dimensions actually wandered about Assyrian
palaces appears from the impress of a paw, as large as a man's hand, left in
the clay at Khorsabad.
In few groups is the fierceness of these brutes better expressed in a com-
pact composition than in that slab from Assur-bani-pal's palace, where a wild
Fi(j. 50. Hunting-scene, from Koy
ass (Fig. 51) falls under the attack of four of these powerful hunting-dogs.
In the pose, and even the face, of their victim, we see the anguish of the mo-
ment,— a speaking contrast to the fierceness of his persecutors.
In reliefs with lions, the Assyrian appears to have reached the acme of his
skill; so that the lion has well been called the "hero of Assyrian art." How
faithfully the details of the hunt, and how tragically the animal's fate, are de-
picted on the walls of Assur-bani-pal's palace ! We see the beast creep cau-
tiously from the cage, opened bv the keeper, into the park ; we watch him turn
99
plunge. That dogs of such huge dimensions actually wandered about Assyrian
palaces appears from the impress of a paw, as large as a man's hand, left in
the clay at Khorsabad.
In few groups is the fierceness of these brutes better expressed in a com-
pact composition than in that slab from Assur-bani-pal's palace, where a wild
Fi(j. 50. Hunting-scene, from Koy
ass (Fig. 51) falls under the attack of four of these powerful hunting-dogs.
In the pose, and even the face, of their victim, we see the anguish of the mo-
ment,— a speaking contrast to the fierceness of his persecutors.
In reliefs with lions, the Assyrian appears to have reached the acme of his
skill; so that the lion has well been called the "hero of Assyrian art." How
faithfully the details of the hunt, and how tragically the animal's fate, are de-
picted on the walls of Assur-bani-pal's palace ! We see the beast creep cau-
tiously from the cage, opened bv the keeper, into the park ; we watch him turn