Pair of Protomes Depicting the Forepart of a Griffin

625-575 BCE

Greek; probably Samos

The great holy sites of ancient Greece, such as the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia and the Heraion of Samos, functioned as repositories for gifts brought by believers seeking divine favor. The most impressive of these offerings were large bronze cauldrons, which were set on a conical stand or tripod base and embellished with cast-bronze attachments like these two griffins. These beasts, facing outward, would have been fastened to the vessel by means of the rivets still present on their collars. This hollow-cast pair is remarkable for the superb quality of their craftsmanship, their condition, and their partially preserved inlaid eyes.

A mythical creature revered for its protective powers, the griffin combined a feline body, an avian head, and tall, horse-like ears. It has been argued that the beaked Protoceratops that once roamed Central Asia were the iconographic inspiration for these ferocious beasts. Travelers may have seen the fantastic fossilized remains of the dinosaurs and then created stories to account for them. Meanwhile, local inhabitants may have spread tales about their ferocity as a way to discourage marauders from looting their wealth. These two griffins are highly agitated; their mouths are agape and their tongues curl up as they screech bloodcurdling warnings.

Status: On View, Gallery 151
Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Greek
Title: Pair of Protomes Depicting the Forepart of a Griffin
Place: Sámos (Object made in:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 625 BCE–575 BCE
Medium: Bronze with bone or ivory inlay
Dimensions: 1: 20.3 × 7.6 × 7.6 cm (8 × 3 × 3 in.); 2: 21.6 × 8.3 × 7 cm (8 1/2 × 3 1/4 × 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Katherine K. Adler Memorial Fund
Reference Number: 1994.38.1-2
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/129906/manifest.json

Parke-Bernet Sotheby New York, Chinese Art: Jades and other semi-precious mineral carvings, early dynastic pottery and porcelain, single-color and decorated porcelains, Chinese & Archaic Greek Bronzes and other sculptures, Chinese lamps, a collection of Japanese costume dolls, Japanese and Chinese paintings: From the Estate of the Late Mrs. Fritz Kreisler. Sale cat. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, October 03, 1963.
David Gordon Mitten, “Two Griffin Protomes” (Cambridge: Fogg Art Museum, 1964), pp.11-15, 19, fig. 1.
Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report: 1993-1994 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1994), p. 15.
“CLEOPATRA; THE ANCIENT WORLD,” Computer program, 1997, The Art Institute of Chicago.
Teaching Manual for Art of the Ancient Mediterranean World: Egypt, Greece, Italy (Art Institute of Chicago, 2002), pp. 58-59 (ill.).
Karen Manchester, “Griffin Protomes,” in The Silk Road and Beyond: Travel, Trade and Transformation, Museum Studies 33, 1 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), pp. 80-1, (ill.).
Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), pp. 48-49, 110, cat. 4.
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012),
pp. 33, 39.
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide, (Art Institute of Chicago, 2013), p. 65.
A.L. McClanan, Griffinology: The Griffin’s Place in Myth, History and Art. (London: Reaktion Books Ltd., 2024), p. 26, fig. 13.

Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 155, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, Silk Road and Beyond: Travel, Trade, and Transformation, September 30, 2006–October 2007.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151, November 11, 2012 - present.

Fritz (1875-1962) and Harriet Kreisler (1869-1963), New York City; sold, Parke–Bernet Galleries, New York, October 3, 1963, lot 123. Michael Ward, New York City; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1994.

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Pair of Protomes Depicting the Forepart of a Griffin

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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