Bronze griffin protome

Between the late 8th and the end of the 7th c. BC, Aegean societies received a wave of influences from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. Motifs, techniques and ideas travelled to the Aegean with merchant ships, enriching and refreshing the repertoire of local artists. One of the most influential oriental motifs was that of the griffin. Used already in Mycenaean art (but forgotten since then), this daemonic winged creature with an eagle’s head and a lion’s body was a symbol of power and authority, protecting palaces and city gates in Syria and Mesopotamia.

In the Aegean, the motif used as a symbol of supernatural power but was not associated with political power. The illustrated protome adorned, with other similar protomes, the rim of a bronze cauldron, on which it was secured with small nails (still visible in the base of the object). Cauldrons with griffin protomes on bronze tripods were common offerings in major sanctuaries of the Archaic period (e.g. Olympia, Delphi, Samos). The griffin protomes were hollow inside. As a rule, they were made by casting (with the ‘lost wax technique’) and then decorated with incised details. Although many cauldrons were introduction from the Eastern Mediterranean, there were also local workshops producing cauldrons with copper imported from Cyprus.

PUBLICATION
– Andreiomenou Α. 2006. Catalogue no. 123, in Choremi-Spetsieri Α. – Zarkadas Α. (eds), The Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum. Ancient Art, Athens, 200-201.