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Image
3D Model
© Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Barcelona
Omeka ID 2356
Empúries. Indeterminat
Colonisations

head of lion

MAC BCN-002041

Object type
figure
Production date
-533 / -500
Fabric
-
Museum
Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Barcelona
Culture
Colonisations
Discovery location
Empúries. Indeterminat
Materials
bronze
Township
Escala, l' (Europa, Espanya, Catalunya, Girona, Alt Empordà)
Technique
casting
Where is it?
Exposició permanent
Dimensions
75 x 105 mm
Description
Bronze figure in the shape of a lion's head located in 1908 in a tomb in the Greek necropolis of Portitxol at Empuries (L'Escala, Alt Emporda, Girona). There is some controversy about its origin. Some authors think that it is a Greek object made in eastern Ionia, while others propose an Etruscan origin. The similarity of this feline figure with lions in the temple of Himera in Sicily measn that it is currently dated between the end of the sixth century BC and the beginning of the fifth century. It is a piece 10.5 cm long and 7.5 cm wide, representing the head of a lion with its mouth open, in which we see four teeth and the tongue hanging out. We can also see the whiskers on each side of the nose and its mane divided into two parts, with the ears behind it. The figure is hollow in order to fit it on to a wooden support, like a head. In the end of the edge there is a circular hole, which would have served to secure the grip, but it has not been preserved. Although traditionally it has been interpreted as the culmination of a carriage wheel axis, it also could be an appliqué of furniture.

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