Male Figure Before a Goddess Drawing Aside Her Mantle (Mesopotamian)

Cylinder seals and their impressions recorded and communicated Sumerian religious beliefs. In this instance, a male figure confronts a goddess whose gown is drawn aside. Two braided knots neatly separate images of animals, real and mythological, horizontally into four distinct registers. In the upper region of the seal, pairs of lions are depicted in heraldic fashion (facing one another). Below, two winged griffins raise their forearms over the hindquarters of submissive ibexes who stare backwards at their predators.

To read the full review of Masterworks from the Morgan and see further images not displayed here, please see the Museum and Special Exhibition Review: Expanded Morgan Library Reopened with Masterworks on Display.