Gryphonology: The Place of Gryphons in Myth, History and Art<\/em> Purposefully providing a range of different perspectives from different regions and eras to illustrate the popularity of this mythical creature in the cultural history of ethnoreligious groups around the world.<\/p>\nMacLernan considers more than the narrow, widely accepted definition of “gryphon”: that is, a hybrid of a lion (the ruler of beasts) and an eagle (the ruler of birds). instead, Griffinology<\/em> A broader definition is provided. Spanning some 5,000 years, this book explores the various forms and possible combinations of this hybrid theme, and how it emerges in the visual language of specific traditions and through their cultural exchanges. From South and West Asia to North Africa and Europe, griffons are everywhere: in wall reliefs, tombs, ivory, tapestries, drinking vessels, manuscripts, alms purses, and even tattoos. In its assessment of these historical manifestations, this book draws our attention to symbolic connections between biological and human displays of power\u2014whether through the built environments of the Byzantine and Sassanid Persian Empires, the patterns found in Islamic and Byzantine silks, Or weapons and armor.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n\n
\n\t\t\t\t“Closed Helmet” of unrecorded artist (c. 1550), from Milan or Brescia, Italy, steel, gold and silver, with visor in the shape of a griffin’s head (image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAlthough Gryphonology delivers on its promise to consider both art and literature\u2014including the little-known gryphon characters in Lewis Carroll\u2019s novels Alice in Wonderland Adventures<\/em> (1865)\u2014most textual examples are limited to the borders of Western Europe. The examples of medieval and modern heraldry and visual branding cited are also mainly from Europe. Although the creature is considered an important part of fantasy fiction, chivalrous stories and travel writing – including discussions of its place in popular culture and books, e.g. harry potter<\/em> \u2014These parts of the text could enrich their arguments by incorporating examples from extra-European traditions. In Armenian tradition, a version of the griffin appears in many written and visual examples from the pre-modern world, as well as in coats of arms. the word Basguj<\/em>most likely from Middle Persian Pascucci<\/em>, <\/em>used to translate greek sharp<\/em> “Griffin” in the Septuagint. Premodern examples in Arabic and Persian literature also use the creature as a metaphor for power, protection, and cultural integration. <\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nGryphons have different names and are mixed differently in different traditions, but they also function symbolically and allegorically. Although it is not possible to compile every iteration, Griffinology <\/em>does provide us with one line of reasoning: “Unfortunately, many interesting renderings had to be omitted, because within this limited space I tried to balance relatively famous works with those that are less famous.” However, the distinction Relatively well-known and less well-known approaches appear to be rooted in European frameworks.<\/p>\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tJohn Tenniel, illustration for The Gryphon, Alice and the Mock Turtle by Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland<\/em> (1865) (Image courtesy of the New York Public Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tUnknown artist, \u201cStatue of Nemesis in the Form of a Winged Female Griffon\u201d (2nd century AD Egypt), blue-glazed faience, 9 3\/16 x 2 13\/16 x 4 3\/16 in (23.4 x 7.2 x 10.7 cm) (Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Museum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tIllustration of a relief gold jar from the Nagyszentmikl\u00f3s hoard, painted by Hungarian archaeologist J\u00f3zsef Hampel in 1894 (Image from J\u00f3zsef Hampel’s public domain) Memories of the Early Middle Ages in Hungarian (4th to 10th centuries)<\/em>)\n
\n\t\t\t\tPair of bone or ivory prototype gryphons from the Cauldron (c. 600 BC), possibly from the Greek island of Samos (Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tTerracotta (jar) from Greece (c. 4th century BC), Terracotta Warriors, 9 1\/16 inches (23 cm) high (image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nGryphonology: The Place of Gryphons in Myth, History and Art (2024), by AL McClanan, is published by Reaktion Books and is available online or through independent booksellers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n\t<\/div>\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the strengths of art historian AL McClanan’s latest book is its intention: to provide a historical overview of the multiple modes in which the legendary creatures known as griffons have appeared in art and literature. Gryphonology: The Place of Gryphons in Myth, History and Art Purposefully providing a range of different perspectives from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artist"},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14437,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14211\/revisions\/14437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}