Statuette of a Seated Lion in the Getty Villa, June 2016

Statuette of a Seated Lion
Greek, made in Lakonia, about 550 BC
Bronze

Lions were commonly depicted as fierce and menacing beasts, but this small, whimsical figure seems somewhat bemused. The remnants of an attachment pin on the bottom of one paw indicate that the statuette once decorated another object, perhaps the rim of a large metal vessel.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.