Pauline Albenda

     “Lion: The turned heads of the two recumbent lions on the plaque conform to the composition's scheme of depicting the frontal view. The projecting portion of their respective heads is modeled in the round and is intact. Each lion has a closed mouth and a passive gaze. Excavated third-millennium B.C. parallels of a close-mouthed head of a lion modeled in the round include a stone mace-head from Tel Agrab decorated with projecting lion heads, a stone base from Susa, and from Telloh (ancient Girsu) the mace-head belonging to Gudea (ca. 2100 B.C.) and several isolated lion heads that originally decorated basins. Also dated to the third millennium are depictions of a lion with an open mouth. Notable examples are the carved lions that decorate the throne of the seated statue of Ishtar from Susa, described above. Two stone recumbent lions from Susa are likewise rendered with open mouths. The pair of Urkish lion pegs, one housed in the Louvre, the other in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also portrays the animals with an open mouth as if snarling or roaring [see note 59 for bibliographical reference to published pictures]. From the second millennium onwards this facial feature was standard for active lion representations in the art of Mesopotamia. It is not surprising that the ancient artist emphasized the fearsome expression of a lion, since this feature conveys effectively the notion of animation and animal power” (p. 185).

[M. De Pietri – February 2020]