gems, history of gemology, beryl, emerald, emerald lore, gem lore

This study, centered on a particular medium, is drawn from a broader investigation encompassing all types of support related to Le Griffon, from archaism to the imperial era (Étude iconographique et essai d’interprétation symbolique, Bruxelles-Rome, 1980). Since then, other documents—particularly from Picardy, in Amiens and Soissons—have been discovered, enabling us to resume and extend this line of research. The iconographic motif of the griffon—a hybrid creature combining the body of a lion with the foreparts of a winged bird of prey—is very ancient: it originated in Egypt and Elam around 3000 BCE and enjoyed significant popularity until about 1200 BCE, spreading into other cultural spheres surrounding the Mediterranean. After a period of decline, it reappeared in the Greek world in the last quarter of the 8th century BCE. During this archaic period (from the 8th to the 6th–5th century), the dominant type was the griffon with a winged lion’s body and the head of a raptor, closely related to griffon protomes, though with some variation in detail. It is also during this time that we find the bird-bodied griffon, characteristic of Protocorinthian and Corinthian pottery.