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The Judgment of Animals in Classical Greece: Animal Sculpture and ...

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“<strong>in</strong> the later fifth <strong>and</strong> fourth centuries the artistic conception <strong>of</strong> the k<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> beasts was<br />

distilled from generations <strong>of</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g motifs from Syria <strong>and</strong> Mesopotamia <strong>and</strong> from actual<br />

contemplation <strong>of</strong> large dogs <strong>and</strong> precocious cats.” 156 <strong>The</strong> statement is significant, for it<br />

exposes specific sources, other than Bronze Age art, that Vermeule thought to have been<br />

(or not) available to <strong>Classical</strong> sculptors, <strong>and</strong> thus, he held accountable for the naturalistic<br />

<strong>and</strong> non-naturalistic elements <strong>in</strong> the appearance <strong>of</strong> <strong>Classical</strong> funerary lions:<br />

representations <strong>of</strong> lions on Protocor<strong>in</strong>thian pottery, where naturalism is conceived as<br />

anatomical accuracy after copy<strong>in</strong>g Syrian (Neo-Hittite) <strong>and</strong> Mesopotamian (Assyrian)<br />

models, <strong>and</strong> the absence or scarcity <strong>of</strong> real lions dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Classical</strong> times <strong>in</strong> <strong>Greece</strong>, an idea<br />

that is not fully supported by classical texts, yet features prom<strong>in</strong>ently <strong>in</strong> modern<br />

scholarship as the reason for <strong>Classical</strong> Greek artists’ observation <strong>of</strong> animals comparable<br />

to lions; it is thus considered responsible for the non-naturalistic elements <strong>in</strong><br />

contemporary statues <strong>of</strong> lions. In this respect, Vermeule is <strong>in</strong> agreement with Richter,<br />

who, as seen earlier, attributed the doglike appearance <strong>of</strong> the Mausoleum lion to the<br />

suggestion that <strong>Classical</strong> artists “had no opportunity to study from life.”<br />

Naturalism as Anatomical Accuracy: Two Near-Eastern Types <strong>of</strong> Lions on<br />

Protocor<strong>in</strong>thian Pottery (<strong>and</strong> Contemporary <strong>Sculpture</strong>)<br />

Representations <strong>of</strong> lions on Orientaliz<strong>in</strong>g Cor<strong>in</strong>thian pottery, also known as<br />

Protocor<strong>in</strong>thian, 157 <strong>in</strong>dicate that the conception <strong>of</strong> naturalism as anatomical accuracy was<br />

a pre-classical phenomenon, <strong>and</strong> thus one at the service <strong>of</strong> <strong>Classical</strong> artists. Focus<strong>in</strong>g on<br />

specific anatomical features, Protocor<strong>in</strong>thian pottery clearly dist<strong>in</strong>guishes between two<br />

156 Vermeule, “Greek Funerary <strong><strong>Animal</strong>s</strong>” 59.<br />

157 Protocor<strong>in</strong>thian pottery is divided <strong>in</strong>to three phases: Early (EPC): 720-690 B.C., Middle (MPC): 690-<br />

650 B.C., <strong>and</strong> Late (LPC): 650-630 B.C.: J. Boardman, Early Greek Vase Pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g. 11 TH -6 TH Centuries<br />

B.C. A H<strong>and</strong>book (New York <strong>and</strong> London, 1998) 85.<br />

109

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