Marble capital and finial in the form of a sphinx
unknown (Greek (ancient))
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Alternate file
Date
-530--520Description
Overall view (original, removed from top of stele and displayed eye level); This capital and sphinx originally crowned the tall grave marker of a youth and a little girl (MMA accession number 11.185a-d, f, g, x). It is displayed separately at viewer level and a plaster copy is now set on top of the stele. The Greeks represented the sphinx 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. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art [website]; http://www.metmuseum.org (accessed 8/17/2015)
Type of Work
capital (column component)Subject
death or burial, funerary art, mythology (Classical), mythical creatures, Archaic (Greek)
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only