The mythical griffin, a creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion, often appeared in Christian contexts. The representation of two confronted griffins is derived from ancient Near Eastern art, and the composition of this relief was probably based on imported textile designs. Another panel in Sorrento depicts griffins in a similar style, suggesting both came from the Old Cathedral there. They probably were part of the choir screen, the partition separating the altar area from the rest of the church.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Relief Panel with Two Griffins Drinking from a Cup
Date:late 9th–early 10th century
Geography:Made in Campania, Southern Italy
Culture:South Italian
Medium:Marble, polychromy
Dimensions:Overall: 29 3/8 x 51 3/4 x 2 1/4 in. (74.6 x 131.4 x 5.7 cm)
Classification:Sculpture-Architectural
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1930
Object Number:30.30
Possibly from the Old Cathedral, Sorrento.; [ C. & E. Canessa, Naples (sold 1929)]; [ Brummer Gallery, Paris and New York (1929–sold 1930)]
Volbach, W. F. "Sculpture Medioevali della Campania." Atti della Pontificia Accademia romana di archeologia Rendiconti, Rendiconti, 3, no. 3 (1923). pp. 83–84, 87.
Rorimer, James J. "An Italo-Byzantine Marble Relief." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, o.s., 25, no. 4 (April 1930). pp. 98–100.
Tozzi, Maria Teresa. "Di Alcune Sculture Medievali della Campania." Bollettino d'Arte 25 (1931-1932). pp. 278–279, fig. 7.
Tozzi, Maria Teresa. Sculture medievali dell'antico duomo di Sorrento. Rome: Roma Grafia, 1931. p. 8.
Volbach, W. F. "Oriental Influences in the Animal Sculpture of Campania." The Art Bulletin 24, no. 2 (June 1942). p. 176, fig. 8.
Valentiner, William Reinhold. "An Early Portrait by Rubens." The Art Quarterly 16 (1953). pp. 189–191, fig. 7.
Rorimer, James J., and William Holmes Forsyth. "The Medieval Galleries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 12, no. 6 (February 1954). p. 128.
Iusco, Anna Grelle. Frammenti medioevali nella Cattedrale di Sorrento. Saggi e studi di storia dell'arte dell'Universitá di Napoli. Naples: Libreria Scientifica Editrice, 1962. p. 34.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Guide to the Collections: Medieval Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1962. fig. 38.
Arte Tipografica. "Scultura Campana nel secolo XI: I reilievi del Duomo di Aversa." Napoli nobilissima: rivista di arti figurative, archeologia e urbanistica 4 (1965). p. 171, fig. 6.
Bertaux, Emile. L'art dans l'Italie méridionale : de la fin de L'Empire romain à la conquête de Charles d'Anjou, edited by Adriano Prandi. Paris: E. de Boccard, 1968. pp. 256–157.
Glass, Dorothy. "Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections: V. Washington and Baltimore." Gesta 9, no. 1 (1970). p. 47.
Forsyth, William Holmes. "Acquisitions from the Brummer Gallery." In The Grand Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art : Sixth International Exhibition presented by C.I.N.O.A., La Conféderation Internationale des Négociants en Oeuvres d'Art, the International Confederation of Dealers in Works of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974. p. 2.
Herbert, Robert L. "Two Reliefs from Nola." Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 34, no. 3 (Winter 1974). pp. 8–9.
Aceto, Francesco. "Un Pluteo napoletano inedito degli anni 898-903." Napoli nobilissima : rivista di arti figurative, archeologia e urbanistica 17 (1978). pp. 70–71.
Rotili, Mario. L'arte a Napoli dal VI al XIII Secolo. Studi e testi di storia e critica dell'arte, Vol. 4. Naples: Società editrice napoletana, 1978. p. 50, 72, fig. 63.
Hibbard, Howard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. p. 145, fig. 268.
Cavallo, Guglielmo. I Bizantini in Italia. Milan: Libri Scheiwiller, 1982. no. 84, pp. 218, 257.
D'Onofrio, Mario, and Valentino Pace. Italia romanica: La Campania. Italia Romanica Grandi Opere e Grandi Formati, Vol. 4. Milan: Jaca Book, 1997. p. 356.
Wixom, William D. "Medieval Sculpture at the Metropolitan: 800 to 1400." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 62, no. 4 (2005). p. 8.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Lisbeth, and Jack Soultanian. Italian Medieval Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. no. 1, pp. 4–7.
Shalem, Avinoam. Die mittelalterlichen Olifante: Volume 1, Text. Die Elfenbeinskulpturen. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 2014. p. 134 n. 107.
Zanichelli, Giuseppa Z. "Medievo e Mercato Antiqueriale in Campania fra de la Guerre." In Medioevo tra due mondi. San Nicolò a San Gemini e le alienazioni monumentali nella prima metà del Novecento, edited by Francesco Gangemi, Tanja Michalsky, and Bruno Toscano. Rome: Campisano Editore, 2022. fig.1, pp. 105–107.
8th–9th century, 15th century additions (?), authenticity questioned
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