Marble capital and finial in the form of a sphinx
The sphinx, a mythological creature with a lion's body and a human head, was known in various forms throughout the eastern Mediterranean region from the Bronze Age onward. The Greeks represented it as a winged female and often placed its image on grave monuments as guardian of the dead. This sphinx, which retains abundant traces of red, black, and blue pigment, was carved separately from the capital on which it stands. Its plinth was let into a socket at the top of the capital and secured by a metal dowel and a bed of molten lead. The capital is in the form of two double volutes (spiral scrolls) designed like a lyre. The front face of the capital also had a painted design of palmettes and volutes.
Artwork Details
- Title: Marble capital and finial in the form of a sphinx
- Period: Archaic
- Date: ca. 530 BCE
- Culture: Greek, Attic
- Medium: Marble, Parian
- Dimensions: H. with akroterion 56 1/8 in. (142.6 cm)
- Classification: Stone Sculpture
- Credit Line: Munsey Fund, 1936, 1938
- Object Number: 11.185d, x
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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834. Marble Capital and Finial in the Form of a Sphinx
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