Knidos Lion

Attribution:

chris 9

Key Dates

350

This sculpture dates from approximately 350 BC.

Key People

This lion was discovered by Richard Pullan, an architect who accompanied Charles Darwin on his exibition to Asia Minor. Charles Darwin brought this any many more items from his voyage back to the British Museum.

This colossal lion was discovered in 1859 in Knidos. It was discovered by Richard Pullan, an architect who accompanied Charles Newton's expedition to Asia Minor.

The sculpture is part of a funerary monument inspired by the greater tomb of Maussollos at Halikarnassos. The monument was a square-shaped structure with a circular interior chamber and a stepped-pyramid roof. The lion is made from one piece of marble, and is six tons in weight.

The monument was built above a high cliff which drops 200 feet into the sea. The hollow eyes of the lion were probably originally inset with coloured glass, and the reflection of light may have been an aid to sailors navigating the notoriously difficult coast.

There are several theories as to the date origin of the lion. One theory is that the statue commemorates a naval battle off Knidos in 394 BC. Another dates the Doric architecture of the tomb and sculpture to about 175 BC.

Origin & Collection

Discovered at:

Knidos

On display at:

British Museum

Reference Number:

GR 1859.12-26.24 (Sculpture 1350)

Physical properties

Height:

200.00cm

Lenght:

300.00cm

Weight:

5443118gram

Materials:

Marble

Images

Put your Flickr photos of this object into the Heritage Key group, and tag them with keyobject-681, to see them here!

Comments

Visitor:

This raises an interesting conundrum. The lion was made by the Greeks when they occupied present day Turkey so does it belong to Turkey or to Greece?

Tue, 09-06-2009 10:50

Visitor:

Only a Greek nationalist would make a comment like that. A 'Greek' city-state is only slightly more related to modern Greece than it is to Turkey. It is important for as much of the significant finds to be at or near the original site for cultural and educational reasons. Also the items were stolen from Turkey not Greece.

Mon, 03-08-2009 22:15