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

small head and its thin, sharp muzzle. 182 Kawami does not oppose the mid-fifth century
date of the Pella dog. That her overall view of this statue is, however, as negative as that
of Vermeule is seen in her focus on the non-naturalistic details of its anatomy, that is,
“the stiff line of the mouth, the bland modeling of the eyes and forehead, and the
conventionalized ruff of hair around the neck.” 183 That these characteristics had been
considered responsible for the early Classical date of the statue is evident from her
statement that “they may be merely aspects of provincial style rather than indications of
chronology.” 184 Kawami’s characterization of the style of the Pella dog as “provincial,”
it is not surprising, since this is the term usually employed to describe the style of
sculpture found in Macedonia, and thought to carry a strong influence from that of
sculpture made in the adjacent Greek world. 185 On the basis of this thinking, Kawami is
able to establish one of the main points of her argument, namely, that a statue of dog
found at Persepolis and displaying the same pose as that of the dog from Pella is Greek
rather that Persian in style. Furthermore, and in light of the influence it exerts on Persian
taste, Greek animal sculpture, and its style in particular, Kawami states, deserve more
than the meager attention they have received so far. 186 Despite this valuable observation,
however, Kawami’s discussion of the Pella dog does not offer an explanation of its
182 Kawami, “Greek Art and Persian Taste” 263.
183 Kawami, “Greek Art and Persian Taste” 263.
184 Kawami, “Greek Art and Persian Taste” 263.
185 For a discussion of Macedonian sculpture of the Archaic and Classical periods and its eclectic
tendencies, often combining Attic, Ionian, Cycladic, Boeotian, and also Thessalian features in what is often
called a Northern Ionic Style, and also further bibliography, see S. G. Miller, The Tomb of Lyson and
Kallikles: A Painted Macedonian Tomb (Mainz am Rhein, 1993) 94, n. 4.
186 Kawami, “Greek Art and Persian Taste” 259, for the Greek and not Persian style of animal sculptures
from Persepolis; 265, for the poor attention of modern scholarship to Greek animal sculpture as a major
indicator of stylistic change; and 260-261, pl. 15, figs. 1-2, for a description and illustrations of the dog
found in a vestibule of the southeast tower of the Apadana at Persepolis. For a recent discussion of
representations of animals in the art of ancient Iran, with emphasis placed on those of the Persian empire,
see M. C. Root, “Animals in the Art of Ancient Iran,” in B. J. Collins, ed., A History of the Animal World
in the Ancient Near East (Leiden and Boston, 2002) 167-209.
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