Statuette of a Griffin with an Arimasp

A griffin—a mythological creature, part eagle and part lion—mauls a young Arimasp. In Greek myth, griffins lived far to the north of the civilized world, where they guarded large deposits of gold. They were in constant conflict with the Arimasps, a local tribe who regularly tried to steal the gold. Literary sources describe the Arimasps as one-eyed, but artists do not appear to have followed this convention, as seen here.

Traces of an attachment on top of the statuette suggest that this bronze group was originally part of a larger object or composition. The griffin’s left front paw presses on the youth's head as it tears the right arm from the lifeless body. Typically, Greek artists indicated that the Arimasps were uncivilized by depicting them in foreign-looking clothing; the rendering of this figure – nude but for his helmet - is unusual.