{
"data": {
"id": 110240,
"accession_number": "1928.861",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Guardian Griffin (pair), 1150\u20131175. Northern Italy, Emilia, 12th century. Pink limestone (called \"Verona Marble\"); overall: 75.9 x 50.2 x 120.7 cm (29 7/8 x 19 3/4 x 47 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, 1928.861",
"current_location": "106B Romanesque & Gothic Sculpture",
"title": "Guardian Griffin (pair)",
"creation_date": "1150\u20131175",
"creation_date_earliest": 1150,
"creation_date_latest": 1175,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Northern Italy, Emilia, 12th century"
],
"technique": "pink limestone (called \"Verona Marble\")",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Medieval Art",
"collection": "MED - Romanesque",
"type": "Sculpture",
"measurements": "Overall: 75.9 x 50.2 x 120.7 cm (29 7/8 x 19 3/4 x 47 1/2 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.759,
"height_inch": 29,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.875,
"width": 0.502,
"width_inch": 19,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.75,
"depth": 1.207,
"depth_inch": 47,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.5
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 309634,
"title": "Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders",
"description": "Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-October 6, 2019).",
"opening_date": "2019-07-07T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "said to have come from the residence of a Cardinal Leona, east of Bologna.",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "According to medieval bestiaries, griffins could tear a man to pieces and carry a whole bovine away, as seen here.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "Griffins are fabled creatures that have the characteristics of an eagle and a lion\u2014combining watchfulness and courage. In Christian art, the dual nature of the griffin was often used to signify that of Christ himself: divine (bird) and human (animal). Griffins were often used as guardian figures in church sculpture and were placed in portals and choir screens. The creatures seen here, with their inward-turning heads, were certainly used for such a purpose. When viewed from the front, one griffin may be seen clutching the figure of a knight between its paws, while the other griffin holds a calf. Their original function was probably to support the columns of a porch in front of a church doorway.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60754764"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1928.861-guardian-griffin-pai"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "C. L. Ragghianti, \"Sculpture del Secolo XII a Ferrara, 1,\" Critica d'Arte, XLII, n. s. fasc. 154-156 (JulyDecember 1977).",
"page_number": "pp. 53-54, figs. 21-22.",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 56",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n76"
},
{
"citation": "Cahn, Walter, and Linda Seidel. Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections. New York: B. Franklin, 1978.",
"page_number": "no. B III 14, 163-65",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Bocchi, Francesca. 7 colonne e 7 chiese: la vicenda ultramillenaria del complesso di Santo Stefano in Bologna : Museo civico archeologico. Casalecchio di Reno, Bologna: Grafis, 1987.",
"page_number": "p. 160",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Turner, Evan H. Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.",
"page_number": "no. 25",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "McClanan, Anne L. Griffinology: The Griffin\u2019s Place in Myth, History and Art. London, UK: Reaktion Books Ltd, 2024.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 82, fig. 51",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1928.861",
"images": {
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"date_created": "2009-09-02T17:55:19",
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],
"creditline": "Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 110240,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1928-06-08T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1150,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "1150\u20131175",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "cover",
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"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-05-29 05:51:53.100000"
}
}