This Greek lion, carved from marble, was once a guardian of a cemetery. He is made more ferocious by his exaggerated features. The artist, in fact, had never seen a real lion. As a solution the artist used more familiar animals to create a believable anatomy. The vertebrae was taken from a goat, the ribs from a horse, and the hips from a cow.
This is a detail from a painting by Dutch artist, Rachel Ryuesch. Her still life compositions combine many different flowers that not only bloom in different seasons, but in different parts of the world. This unrealistic combination creates a beautiful, and idealistic contrast from nature.
This detail is from the small marble sculpture by Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, titled ‘crouching flora’. The influence from classic Greek sculptures of gods and goddesses creates a strong but playful figurative sculpture. It also acts as a personification of a natural element like flowers and other plant life.
Ariel Bowman Ceramics 