Tota Italia : At the Origins of a Nation

Tota Italia : At the Origins of a Nation is now open at The Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome. The presentation examines the process of Romanization beginning with exhibits from Pre-Roman Italy of the 4th century BCE then continues through the Julio-Claudian period to the ultimate unification of territories under the banner of Rome. More than thirty Italian museums have loaned objects to the exhibition to illustrate the diversity that made up the Empire and how the extraordinary differences were blended to form the cultural identity of the Italian people.

Looking through images of some of the artifacts on exhibit, I was pleased to see once more the Parian marble table support depicting two griffins attacking a doe from the 4th century BCE that I had photographed years ago at the Getty Villa. Apparently, it is thought to have originated from a tomb in Foggia, originally part of the ancient Greek colony known as Argos Hippium in southern Italy. It is truly a magnificent piece!

One of my other favorite pieces included in the exhibit is the Boxer Resting, a 1st century BCE bronze Roman copy of a 3rd century CE Greek original by Apollonius that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo back in 2009.

The exhibit will be on display until July 25, 2021.

Table Support in the Shape of Griffins Attacking a Doe, Greek, made in South Italy and found in a tomb near Foggia, 325-300 BCE that I originally photographed at the Getty Villa just before its repatriation to Italy in 2006

Table Support in the Shape of Griffins Attacking a Doe, Greek, made in South Italy and found in a tomb near Foggia, 325-300 BCE that I originally photographed at the Getty Villa just before its repatriation to Italy in 2006

Table Support in the Shape of Griffins Attacking a Doe, Greek, made in South Italy and found in a tomb near Foggia, 325-300 BCE that I originally photographed at the Getty Villa just before its repatriation to Italy in 2006

A Boxer Resting 1st century BCE Roman copy of 3rd century BCE Greek original by Apollonius, Bronze, that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in 2009.

A Boxer Resting 1st century BCE Roman copy of 3rd century BCE Greek original by Apollonius, Bronze, that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in 2009.

A Boxer Resting 1st century BCE Roman copy of 3rd century BCE Greek original by Apollonius, Bronze, that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in 2009.

A Boxer Resting 1st century BCE Roman copy of 3rd century BCE Greek original by Apollonius, Bronze, that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in 2009.

Decoration from a shield depicting Taras, 4th century BCE from the National Archaeological Museum of Basilicata. Image courtesy of the exhibit.

Roman relief with battle scene, 3rd century BCE from the Archaeological Museum of Taranto. Image courtesy of the exhibit.

Bronze lamp holder depicting Apollo, 1st century BCE from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Image courtesy of the exhibit.

The Capitoline Triad 2nd century CE from the Archaeological Museum of Guidonia-Montecelio. Image courtesy of the exhibit.

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Cypriot gold spiral earrings: Local fashion or the result of Achaemenid influence?

 According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, spirals with ornate animal-head terminals are frequently found in Cypriot tombs of the Classical period. Terracotta and limestone votive statues illustrate that from the Archaic through the Classical period it was customary for Cypriot men and women to wear such ornaments in large holes pierced through their earlobes.

When I saw these earrings, I wondered if this Cypriot practice of making large holes in their earlobes to accommodate these ornaments was a local fashion or adopted as a result of Persian rule beginning in 545 BCE, especially since most examples I have seen  are dated between the late 6th century to the 5th century BCE. I managed to find images of Achaemenid bracelets similarly made of gold tubing but each example of similar earrings I found in my research were all labeled Cypriot. Since the Cypriots were ruled by the Assyrians and even the Egyptians for a short time, I researched the jewelry of those cultures as well but found nothing similar. 

Cypriot Earrings or spiral with lion-griffin terminals, Gold and Silver, 400-350 BCE and Lion headed spirals from mid-5th century BCE, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cypriot Gold and copper alloy spiral with lion-head terminal, 2nd half of the 5th century B.C.E. at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The lion-head is made in two halves (left and right) from sheet gold.

Cypriot Earrings or spiral with lion-griffin terminals, Gold and Silver, 400-350 BCE, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Cypriot Earrings or spiral with lion-griffin terminals, Gold and Silver, 400-350 BCE, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Pair of gold spiral earrings with terminals in the form of a crested griffins head. Cypriot, 475-400 B.C.E. British Museum

Gilt bronze spiral with griffin terminal. Period: Classical. Date: ca. 400–350 B.C.E. Culture: Cypriot. Medium: Gold, bronze. British Museum

Cypriot Gold allow spiral earings with Griffin terminals 5th century BCE at the British Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Paul Hudson. (digitally enhanced and recomposed)

Cypriot Gold alloy spiral earring with horned mythological creature terminal and floret, 5th century BCE, at the Antikensammlung Museum in Berlin courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marsupium

Achaemenid Gold Bracelet with Inlaid Termini in the Form of Duck's Heads, Gold with lapis lazuli, agate, and carnelian inlay, mid-6th-4th century B.C.E. at the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan. The ducks are reduced to protomes with their heads turned back in a typical Achaemenid fashion. The bracelet is constructed of hollow gold tubing, and the duck protomes were formerly elaborately inlayed with colored stones. One duck bill is made of agate, the other of carnelian. The ducks were both made separately and were in all likelihood originally joined together at their breasts. In order to put on the bracelet, the birds could be separated from the circlet by removing the rivets.

The bracelet type is preserved in much simpler versions of bronze or golden wire, and details like the turned heads resting on the animals' backs seem truly Achaemenid, but a certain naturalistic tendency along with the concept of a removable part may point to a later period and attribute this piece to the circle of Achaemenizing art fashioned in the Hellenistic period. It must be stressed, however, that at the moment, this is nothing but a hypothesis. - Miho Museum, Kyoto, Japan

Achaemenid Gold Bracelet with Inlaid Termini in the Form of Seated Ducks, Gold with lapis lazuli, turquoise, onyx, and rock crystal inlay, mid-6th-4th century B.C.E. at the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan. The jeweler of this bracelet chose ducks as terminal figures and combined them with a rather heavy looking circlet that can be opened. The ducks were fashioned separately, and all the feathers and the eyes were originally characterized by inlays. The ducks' bills are not preserved. The birds are fixed to a single massive tubular circlet, which originally had colored inlays at the junction between the ducks. The use of colored inlays for the details of the feathering is a feature of Egyptianizing tendencies in Achaemenid craftsmanship. Though the "Great Kings" are known to have employed Egyptian craftsmen, the use of this technique does not necessarily imply that the jeweler was an Egyptian, because the technique was widely used on objects of truly Achaemenid style. 

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Ancient origins of the griffin

 A legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and, sometimes, an eagle's talons as its front feet first appears in ancient Iranian and Egyptian art dating back to before 3000 BCE.  In Egypt, a griffin-like animal can be seen on a cosmetic palette from Hierakonpolis, known as the "Two Dog Palette", dated to 3300–3100 BCE. The divine storm-bird, Anzu, half man and half bird, associated with the chief sky god Enlil was revered by the ancient Sumerians and Akkadians.  The Lamassu, a similar hybrid deity depicted with the body of a bull or lion, eagle's wings, and a human head, was a common guardian figure in Assyrian palaces.  

In Iranian mythology, the griffin is called Shirdal, which means "Lion-Eagle."  Shirdals appeared on cylinder seals from Susa as early as 3000 BCE. Shirdals also are common motifs in the art of Luristan, the North and North West region of Iran in the Iron Age, and Achaemenid art.   The 15th century BCE frescoes in the Throne Room of the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos are among the earliest depictions of the mythical creatures in ancient Greek art.  In Central Asia, the griffin image was later included in Scythian "animal style" artifacts of the 6th–4th centuries BCE. 

In his Histories, Herodotus relates travelers' reports of a land in the northeast where griffins guard gold and where the North Wind issues from a mountain cave.  Scholars have speculated that this location may be referring to the  Dzungarian Gate, a mountain pass between China and Central Asia. Some modern scholars including Adrienne Mayor have theorized that the legend of the griffin was derived from numerous fossilized remains of Protoceratops found in conjunction with gold mining in the mountains of Scythia, present day eastern Kazakhstan. Recent linguistic and archaeological studies confirm that Greek and Roman trade with Saka-Scythian nomads flourished in that region from the 7th century BCE, when the semi-legendary Greek poet Aristeas wrote of his travels in the far north, to about 300 CE when Aelian reported details about the griffin - exactly the period during which griffins were most prominently featured in Greco-Roman art and literature. Mayor argues that over-repeated retelling and drawing or recopying its bony neck frill (which is rather fragile and may have been frequently broken or entirely weathered away) may have been thought to be large mammal-type external ears, and its beak treated as evidence of a part-bird nature that lead to bird-type wings being added. Others argue fragments of the neck frill may have been mistook for remnants of wings.

 Lucius Flavius Philostratus (170 – 247/250 CE), a Greek sophist who lived during the reign of the Roman emperor Philip the Arab, in his "Life of Apollonius of Tyana" also writes about griffins that quarried gold because of the strength of their beak.  He describes them as having the strength to overcome lions, elephants, and even dragons, although he notes they had no great power of flying long distances because their wings were not attached the same way as birds. He also described their feet webbed with red membranes. Philostratus says the creatures were found in India and venerated there as sacred to the sun. He observed that griffins were often drawn by Indian artists as yoked four abreast to represent the sun.

Table Support in the Shape of Griffins Attacking a Doe Greek made in South Italy 325-300 BCE that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California. This piece has since been repatriated to Greece.

Sheet-gold overlay for a sword scabbard Greek depicting a griffin 340-320 BCE found near Chaian on the northern shore of the Black Sea that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Bronze head of a griffin Greek third quarter of the 7th century BCE from Olympia that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Lamp handle with a Griffin's Head Copper alloy Byzantine 500-700 CE that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Terracotta applique of a griffin attacking a horse with remnants of gilding Etrusco-Campanian mold-made 500-475 BCE that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Byzantine Architectural Detail with Griffin that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Ceremonial Helmet with griffin protome Made in South Italy 350-300 BCE Bronze that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Stucco Relief Panels from a 1st century CE Roman Villa depicting a woman with a griffin that I photographed at the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.

Roman fresco of a griffin recovered from Vesuvian Ash in Stabiae 1st century BCE-1st century CE that I photographed at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy.

Griffin-shaped Table Support of Aegean White Marble from the House of Meleager in Pompeii 27 BCE - 14 CE that I photographed at "Pompeii: The Exhibit" in the Pacific Science Center, Seattle, Washington.

Bronze Plate Iran or Central Asia 7th century CE that I photographed at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Asian Art in Washington D.C.

Roman sarcophagus with panther-griffins 140-170 CE. The central vase-like object was used in the cult of Dionysus Sabazius and is a symbol of deification and ascension to heaven. Eros figures ride fantastical sea-creatures along the lid. Photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Closeup of Roman sarcophagus with panther-griffins 140-170 CE that I photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Rhyton (drinking vessel) in the form of a griffin with Nike and Eros on the neck Greek Taras (southern Italy) Classical Period 350-330 BCE Ceramic that I photographed at the Seattle Art Museum.

Gold armlet with griffin heads, from the Oxus Treasure, 499-300 BCE, now in the British Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Fresco depicting a griffin in the Bronze Age throne room of the Minoan palace at Knossos (as restored by Sir Arthur Evans) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Paginazero.

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One-eyed warriors and gold-guarding griffins

 The relief on this elegantly worked roundel depicts a nude youth being attacked by a griffin. It relates to legends, first mentioned by the ancient Greek writer Herodotus, of the people called Arimasps who lived east of the Black Sea.Their land was rich in gold, but the gold was guarded by fierce griffins. The subject became popular during the Hellenistic period, especially for terracottas produced in Tarentum. It is likely that these South Italian models inspired the Central Italian adaptation on this bronze. - Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Arimaspi were a legendary tribe of one-eyed people of northern Scythia who lived in the foothills of the Riphean Mountains, variously identified with the Ural or Carpathian mountains.  The tales of their struggles with gold-guarding griffins in the Hyperborean lands beyond Thrace, reported by Herodotus, were originally told in a lost archaeic poem, Arimaspea, by Aristeas,  a native of Proconnesus in Asia Minor, active during the 7th century BCE.   Strabo and Pliny's Natural History perpetuated the fables about the northern people who had a single eye in the center of their foreheads and engaged in stealing gold from the griffins.

Scholars point out that the struggle between the Arimaspi and the griffins has remarkable similarities to Homer's account of the Pygmaioi warring with cranes:

"...when the cranes escape the winter time and the rains unceasing and clamorously wing their way to the streaming Ocean, bringing to the Pygmaian men bloodshed and destruction..." - Homer, The Iliad

In his History of Animals, Aristotle claims the story is true, "these birds [the cranes] migrate from the steppes of Scythia to the marshlands south of Egypt where the Nile has its source. And it is here, by the way, that they are said to fight with the pygmies. The story is not fabulous, as there is in reality a race of dwarfish men, and the horses are little in proportion, and the men live in caves underground."

The Roman poet Ovid also describes such an age-old battle in one of his stories when a Pygmy Queen named Gerana who offended the goddess Hera with her boasts of superior beauty, was transformed into a crane.

Modern historians speculate Herodotus or his source may have understood the Scythian word as a combination of the roots arima ("one") and spou ("eye") and to have created a mythic image to account for it. This similarity of name and location, however, could point to the ancestors of the local Uralic people, the Mari.

Bronze lid and upper part of an oil flask depicting a youth being attacked by a griffin, 4th century BCE, Praenestine, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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