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Directly across the street from the British Museum.

Pediments were a common feature in ancient Greek architecture. They were usually triangle-shaped and sat on the top of buildings such as temples. They would be decorated with sculptures and reliefs, which reflected the purpose of the building. The pediment above the Museum’s South entrance was built in the 1850s. It is decorated with sculptures, which illustrate what 19th -century visitors would have found inside the Museum. The original pediment had a Wedgewood blue background and the statues were all painted white. The core Museum building was designed by Robert Smirke in 1823 in Greek Revival style. This emulated the architecture of ancient Greece, and so the building has Greek features including the pediment and columns at the South entrance. The sculptures in the pediment were designed by Sir Richard Westmacott. They follow the grand theme of the Progress of Civilization (as envisioned, of course, by our Victorian ancestors in decidedly masculine terms). As you look at the pediment, the left hand side shows the creation of man as he emerges from a rock as an ignorant being. He meets the next character, the Angel of Enlightenment who is holding the Lamp of Knowledge. From this man learns basic skills, such as cultivating land and taming animals. The next step in the progress of civilization is for man to expand his knowledge and understanding. The next eight figures represent the subjects he must learn to do this. From left to right they are architecture and sculpture; painting and science; geometry and drama; music and poetry. (I must add that my recollection of high school does not equip me to see the relationship of geometry to drama). These subjects were all covered in the Museum’s early collection and it was this knowledge which could help to educate man. The final human figure, on the right hand side, represents educated man. Having expanded his knowledge, man can now dominate the world around him.

The Mausoleum of Halikarnassos (a Greek polis in modern-day Turkey) dates from about 350 BCE. A four-horse chariot group (quadriga) was positioned on the top of the stepped pyramid that crowned the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos. The entire group would have been about 6.5 metres in length and around 5 metres in height. These two fragments are the largest that survive. They form the head and fore-part of a horse with its original bronze bridle, and the hind-quarters probably of another horse. The exact significance of this chariot group is uncertain. The quiet and dignified composition may reflect a funerary function. If the chariot was empty, it may have been an offering to the dead king. Though not common in ancient Greece, the practice of offering an empty chariot and horses was more frequent among the dynasts who ruled the outer limits of the ancient Greek world. It is perhaps more likely that the chariot was occupied, certainly by a charioteer and maybe even by Maussollos himself. If this were the case, the whole group would have represented the apotheosis (becoming a god) of Maussollos. The king is shown accompanied by Nike, the goddess of victory, rising up to the heavens. Alternatively, the chariot may have been driven by Apollo, or Helios, the god with whom some scholars believe Maussollos associated himself. It represents the forepart of a horse belonging to the colossal chariot group which crowned the tomb. The horse stands quietly with its head held down and turned to its left. It conveys a sense of great energy and vitality shown by the bulging muscles, flaring nostrils, open mouth, prominent veins and bulbous right eye. The teeth are carved within the open mouth and the tongue is outlined. The horse’s mane runs along the neck on both sides and a lock of hair flops around the right eye. Around the body are two bands that are part of the harness which are joined at the crest by a collar. It is the regular type of harness for a four-horse chariot. The original bronze bridle and bit are still secured by dowels. The curving cheek-pieces are of the Corinthian type. The statue is reconstructed from several fragments. Traces of paint remain.

Hellenistic realism extended to the expressive portrayal of animals as well as humans. Many bronze animal sculptures of this period are only known to us through Roman marble copies. The Molossi inhabited ancient Epirus (now northwest Greece and Albania). Molossian hounds were related to the modern mastiff and were famously fierce. They were often used as guard dogs by herdsmen and for household security in cities. Aristophanes, the fifth-century comic dramatist, speaks of the hazards of trying to get past a doorway guarded by a Molossian dog, while the infamous Athenian statesman and general Alcibiades is said to have kept one with a docked tail. This dog once wore a collar. Its gaping jaws show powerful teeth, but the relaxed pose and upward gaze give it an obedient air. Five other versions of this sculpture, all found near Rome, are thought to be Roman copies of a lost Greek bronze original, probably of the 2nd century BCE. This version is sometimes known as the "Jennings Dog," because it was once owned by Henry Constantine Jennings (1731-1819), who bought it in Rome in the 1750s.

This marble figure represents a lion with its mouth open, crouching for a spring. It was placed at the foot of the Monument as a guardian of the tomb. There were perhaps originally four, one at each corner. The style of the sculpture appears earlier than that of the Monument itself. They may be reused from some previous tomb decoration, or is perhaps contemporary with the Nereid Monument, but deliberately archaizing.

This Assyrian alabaster panel from the palace at Nineveh, 645-635 BCE depicts a pair of protective spirits. Despite appearances, these figures are not fighting one other but rather are protecting against any evil that might approach from either direction. This kind of spirit was known as an "ugallu" – a protective lion.According to Wikipedia, Ugallu was a lion-headed storm-demon which has the feet of a bird and appears on protective amulets and apotropaic yellow clay or tamarisk figurines. Although the figurines and amulets date from the first millennium BCE, Ugallu had its origins in the early second millennium. He was one of the class of ud-demons (day-demons), personifying moments of divine intervention in human life. The iconography changed over time, with his human feet morphing into an eagle’s talons and his attire into a short skirt. According to the first tablet of the Epic of Creation, Enûma Eliš, Ugallu was one of the eleven mythical monsters created by Tiamat in her cosmic conflict with the younger gods led by Marduk. The tale describes how Marduk captured and bound these creatures, and rehabilitated them as part of his work of reconstructing the world from the corpses of his vanquished adversaries. This transformed them into protective charms which would be used to adorn the doors of palaces, for example that of Ashurbanipal’s southwest palace at Nineveh, temples, such as the Esagil of the Marduk temple as described in the Agum-Kakrime Inscription, and private dwellings (the bedrooms of the vulnerable) to ward off evil and disease. Ugallu first appears figuratively in the Old Babylonian period as a porter of the underworld, a servant of Nergal. In later times he is represented on amulets as frequently paired with the Sumerian demon Lulal, who was in many respects fairly similar in appearance. He is portrayed clasping a dagger in one hand and a mace in the other.