
Read the visual description
The sculpture depicts a sphinx - a mythical creature with features of a human and a lion, including wings. The sphinx has a lion's body, wings, and a human-like head with elongated facial features. The material appears to be bronze or a similar metal with a green patina and areas of darker brown. The creature is shown in a reclining position, with its head turned to the side and detailed feather-like patterns on its wings. The sculpture is on a flat base with geometric patterns along the edge. It could be a fragment as one edge appears to be cut flat, suggesting it may have been part of a larger piece.
National Gallery of Art · Sculpture
A Sphinx to Right
Florentine 15th Century
- Date
- 15th century
- Medium
- bronze//Dark red-brown patina
- Dimensions
- overall (silhouetted contour): 6.5 x 7.1 cm (2 9/16 x 2 13/16 in.) gross weight: 75 gr
- Classification
- Sculpture · Applique
- Accession number
- 1957.14.145
- Credit line
- Samuel H. Kress Collection
- Time span
- 1300 to 1400
- Department
- CSD
Subjects and terms
- Florentine
- fantasy
- animal
- Renaissance
- Renaissance Plaquettes
- Sphinx
Provenance
Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris; his estate; purchased 1930 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); purchased 1945 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1957 to NGA.
NGA object ID 43865. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.