

Anatolia or Syria
Copper alloy
H. 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm), L. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm)
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, Gift of Dr. Mortimer D. Sackler, Theresa Sackler and Family, and funds from various donors, 2002 (2002.457a,b)
Although the first half of the first millennium B.C. is known as a period of great metalwork production in the Near East, this lion is a rare surviving metal sculpture in the round. The animal's powerful presence is concentrated in the stylization of the face, executed in a manner that dates this work to the mid-first millennium B.C. The lion may be attributed to Anatolia or Syria based on comparison with monumental stone relief carving of these regions.







