Rhyton with red-figure griffin protome

340-320 B.C.
Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. Stg. 424

 

The rhyton, an especially important type of vessel, often imitates heads of animals, either real or imaginary: in this case a griffin, a fabulous animal with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, thought to live in the extreme northern region of the Earth, where it watched over gold deposits.