DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18217#0229
THE LION TOMB AT CNIDOS.
215
was a circular chamber, from which radiated eleven
sepulchral cells, and the tomb might well have been
erected after a tattle to contain the bodies of a number
of persons.
The lion is recumbent to the right, witli head nearly
turned to the front, and slightly raised. The mouth was
open and grinning. The entire animal appears to have been
sculptured out of one block of marble. When it fell from
the summit of the pyramid it must have pitched on the fore-
paws, which are broken off. Part of the lower jaw and of one
hind leg are also wanting, and the left side, having lain
uppermost, has suffered very much from weather. In
order to diminish weight, the pedestal on which it stood
and the under side of the lion itself were hollowed out.
The considerable scale of the tomb and the number of
cells that it contains suggest that it was a public monu-
ment, jirobably erected to commemorate some victory.
Lions were often employed in Greek art with this motive,
and wo constantly find them associated with sepulchral
monuments as the guardians of the tomb, and also as the
emblem of heroic valour.
The position of the monument on a promontory was
thought by Sir C. Newton to indicate that it was con-
nected with a naval victory, and he suggested a victory
gained off Cnidos by the Athenian admiral Conon over
the Lacedaemonians in 394 B.C. as that commemorated.
It is evident, however, that the former assumption is very
conjectural.
The style of sculpture in this lion is very large and
simple, and well suited for its original position on a
monument 40 feet high, overlooking a headland with a
sheer depth of 200 feet, and with a wild rocky landscape
round it. The eyes, now wanting, were probably of
vitreous paste, or, perhaps, of precious stones. Pliny tells
(N.H., xxxvii., 6G) of a marble lion, on the tomb of a prince
215
was a circular chamber, from which radiated eleven
sepulchral cells, and the tomb might well have been
erected after a tattle to contain the bodies of a number
of persons.
The lion is recumbent to the right, witli head nearly
turned to the front, and slightly raised. The mouth was
open and grinning. The entire animal appears to have been
sculptured out of one block of marble. When it fell from
the summit of the pyramid it must have pitched on the fore-
paws, which are broken off. Part of the lower jaw and of one
hind leg are also wanting, and the left side, having lain
uppermost, has suffered very much from weather. In
order to diminish weight, the pedestal on which it stood
and the under side of the lion itself were hollowed out.
The considerable scale of the tomb and the number of
cells that it contains suggest that it was a public monu-
ment, jirobably erected to commemorate some victory.
Lions were often employed in Greek art with this motive,
and wo constantly find them associated with sepulchral
monuments as the guardians of the tomb, and also as the
emblem of heroic valour.
The position of the monument on a promontory was
thought by Sir C. Newton to indicate that it was con-
nected with a naval victory, and he suggested a victory
gained off Cnidos by the Athenian admiral Conon over
the Lacedaemonians in 394 B.C. as that commemorated.
It is evident, however, that the former assumption is very
conjectural.
The style of sculpture in this lion is very large and
simple, and well suited for its original position on a
monument 40 feet high, overlooking a headland with a
sheer depth of 200 feet, and with a wild rocky landscape
round it. The eyes, now wanting, were probably of
vitreous paste, or, perhaps, of precious stones. Pliny tells
(N.H., xxxvii., 6G) of a marble lion, on the tomb of a prince