1485
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Griffin is a 1485 by Martin Schongauer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a griffin—half eagle, half ox—perched on a rock, wings folded tight. Most griffins in old books have lion bodies, but this one has hooves. That mix of eagle and ox was rare, even in the 1400s. The artist carved the lines into metal first, so the image could be printed again and again. If you like strange creatures from old stories, look up *chiaroscuro*—it’s the way artists use light and dark to make things pop off the page.
According to medieval bestiaries (books of beasts), the griffin is an imaginary and immensely dangerous creature, believed to carry off humans and oxen. Usually depicted with the body of a lion and the head, wings, and claws of an eagle, the griffin symbolizes both courage and vigilance. Its dual nature also signifies that of Christ himself: divine (bird) and human (animal). Martin Schongauer's griffin is an unusual combination of an eagle and an ox—see the back hoofed paws—departing from the traditional representation of this animal as part eagle and part lion. With a few bold strokes of the…
Compare Schongauer's griffin with two CMA sculptures of the same subject, once placed as guardian figures in the portal of an Italian Romanesque Christian church (1928.861.1 and 1928.861.2).
Read the full account in the museum source.
Martin Schongauer, also known as Martin Schön or Hübsch Martin by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter.
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