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dc.coverage.spatialSite: British Museum (London, England, United Kingdom)en_US
dc.coverage.temporalafter 2nd century BCE- 1st century CE (creation)en_US
dc.date-100-100en_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-01-29T20:25:30Z
dc.date.available2013-01-29T20:25:30Z
dc.date.issued-100-100en_US
dc.identifier189687en_US
dc.identifier.otherarchrefid: 1757en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1721.3/98223
dc.descriptionOverall view, looking down; Hellenistic realism extended to the expressive portrayal of animals as well as humans. Many bronze animal sculptures of this period are only known to us through Roman marble copies. The Molossi inhabited ancient Epirus (now northwest Greece and Albania). Molossian hounds were related to the modern mastiff and were famously fierce. They were often used a guard dogs by herdsmen and for the household security in cities. Aristophanes, the fifth-century comic dramatist, speaks of the hazards of trying to get past a doorway guarded by a Molossian dog, while the infamous Athenian statesman and general Alcibiades is said to have kept one with a docked tail. This dog once wore a collar. Its gaping jaws show powerful teeth, but the relaxed pose and upward gaze gave it an obedient air. Five other versions of this sculpture, all found near Rome, are thought to be Roman copies of a lost Greek bronze original, probably of the 2nd century BC. This version is sometimes known as the 'Jennings Dog', because it was once owned by Henry Constantine Jennings (1731-1819), who bought it in Rome in the 1750s. Source: British Museum [website]; http://www.britishmuseum.org (accessed 6/14/2009)en_US
dc.format.mediummarbleen_US
dc.rights© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.en_US
dc.subjectanimalsen_US
dc.subjectdogsen_US
dc.subjectguard dogsen_US
dc.subjectherding dogsen_US
dc.subjectHellenisticen_US
dc.subjectGreco-Romanen_US
dc.titleMolossian Hounden_US
dc.typeimageen_US
dc.rights.accessLicensed for educational and research use by the MIT community onlyen_US
dc.identifier.vendorcode7A3-G-BM-MH-A1en_US
vra.culturalContextAncient Romanen_US
vra.techniquecarving (processes)en_US
vra.worktypesculpture (visual work)en_US
dc.contributor.displayunknown (Ancient Roman sculptor, after Greek original)en_US


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