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

the expense of realism, or to a combination of both these factors, the fact remains
that the lion at an early period, to a greater extend than other animals developed
into a decorative design like the acanthus, the rosette, the tendril, and other
patterns derived from the vegetable kingdom. 174
In this statement, the idea of lack of real lions as models for artists again features as a
possible explanation of the non-naturalistic appearance of statues of lions, in this case,
colossal. If this is, however, a point that links Broneer’s interpretation to that of
Vermeule and Richter regarding the problematic style of lions in Greek sculpture, what
sets it apart is the attention paid to the possibility of “a conscious striving toward
symbolism and monumentality.” Such a suggestion is important, for, although it stands
side by side with the underlying view of the style of these lions as an artistic mistake, it
actually acknowledges the need to approach the sculptures through the eyes of Classical
Greek artists and spectators.
b. The Case of the Dog
Lions are not the only animals whose representations in Greek sculpture have
been considered problematic. Representations of dogs dating to the Archaic and mostly
Classical periods have been also singled out for their inconsistent style. Commenting, for
example, on the late sixth-century (ca. 520 B.C.) marble statue of a dog, usually
attributed to the sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia on the Athenian Acropolis (Fig. 11),
Humphrey Payne and Gerard Mackworth-Young state that: “the figure is a remarkable
anatomical study; so much emphasis indeed has been laid on the frame and its slight
covering of sinew and muscle that one is apt to overlook the strength of the stylization—
at least in looking at the photograph: in the original, the long, flat, sharp-edged surfaces,
174 Broneer, The Lion Monument at Amphipolis 42.
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