Archaeological Museum of Bologna

The sculptural group, which was part of a funerary monument – perhaps in the form of a pointed aedicula – represents a winged sphinx with its right paw on the head of a warrior who, though on his knees, attempts to ward off the blow.

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The monument has funerary significance and is linked with an iconographic tradition typical of eastern and Mediterranean cultures: the representation of the sphinx (from the Greek Sphinx, meaning “strangler”) – a monstrous figure with a woman’s face, the chest, paws and tail of a lion, and the wings of a bird – alludes to the terrifying inevitability of man’s destiny: death.

Provenance: Borgo Panigale (Bologna)
Datation: First half of the 1st century AD
Material: Limestone
Inventory #: 19041