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Questions for study or discussion

Dr. Anne McClanan and Dr. Evan Freeman

https://smarthistory.org/byzantine-griffin/

Thinking about context

  • What function did this object likely serve?
  • What details indicate that this object was created for a Christian setting?

Thinking about this object

  • What materials and techniques were used to create this object?

 

  • What role do materials and techniques play in the object’s appearance and the viewer’s experience of it?

Thinking about iconography/subject matter

  • What is a griffin?
  • What significance did griffins hold?
  • How might this imagery relate to the object’s function?
Panel with a Griffin, 1250–1300, made in Greece or the Balkans (possibly), marble, 59.7 x 52.1 x 6.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) <https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/472849>

Thinking about art history

  • In what other cultures and media do griffins appear?
  • Why do you think this motif appears across different periods and cultures?

Watch the video.

<https://youtu.be/9HrNNOEeJ_E>

 

License

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Smarthistory Guide to Byzantine Art Copyright © 2021 by Dr. William Allen; Dr. Magdalene Breidenthal; Dr. Andrew Casper; Dr. Paroma Chatterjee; Dr. Allen Farber; Dr. Ariel Fein; Dr. Evan Freeman; Dr. Beth Harris; Kalliroe Linardou; Dr. Elizabeth Macaulay; Kathleen Maxwell; Dr. Anne McClanan; Dr. Robert G. Ousterhout; Dr. Nancy Ross; Dr. Courtney Tomaselli; Dr. Nicolette S. Trahoulia; Dr. Alicia Walker; and Dr. Steven Zucker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.