Image Details

Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus

Tamassos’s limestone lions, about 2 feet high, were depicted with menacing fangs and a slobbering tongue. The body, however, is a picture of repose—with one paw gently resting atop the other and the long tail curving gracefully over the creature’s hindquarters. Perhaps this combination of features suggested the supple ease with which the beasts warded off evil.