Limestone finial of a votive stele (?) with a lion and a male sphinx

Limestone finial of a votive stele (?) with a lion and a male sphinx

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cippi topped by lions or sphinxes come mainly from Golgoi or Idalion. Both the lion and the sphinx were introduced to Cyprus from Egypt as guardians of tombs. The sphinx's beard is typical of Cypriot iconography, while its headdress is Egyptian.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Limestone finial of a votive stele (?) with a lion and a male sphinxLimestone finial of a votive stele (?) with a lion and a male sphinxLimestone finial of a votive stele (?) with a lion and a male sphinxLimestone finial of a votive stele (?) with a lion and a male sphinxLimestone finial of a votive stele (?) with a lion and a male sphinx

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.