Funerary Lion in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Funerary Lion
Greek, made in Athens, about 310 BC
Marble

Inventory # 73.AA.121

Alert and openmouthed in a growl, this lion once sat in a cemetery, where it protected a family burial plot and symbolized the family's wealth and power. This statue was probably modeled after the monumental lion erected at Chaironeia, in central Greece, to commemorate Theban casualties from the battle fought there in 338 BC against Phillip II of Macedon.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.