Relief with Two Griffins Attacking a Deer

This fragment of a Tarentine appliqué depicts two griffins attacking a deer. Preserved on .1 the headless body of a griffin with truncated back legs and the right wing, which spans the length of its abdomen. The figure is symmetrical to 80.AD.89.2, which is better preserved, and depicts a griffin in the act of clutching with its left front claw a fallen animal, perhaps a stag, only partly preserved. The griffin pins its prey with its right back paw as it sinks its fangs into the animal’s back. The attachment of the griffin’s right front claw to the animal’s body forms an eyehole that may have been utilized to attach the relief to a sarcophagus. Both show extensive traces of the original gilding.