CC0 · no rights reserved
Figural Pendant
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This emphatically male figure combines a human body with a composite animal head. The antlers are the stag's; the snout, perhaps a snarling feline's; and the hair is formed of braided serpents whose heads hiss from the figure's shoulders. The extended tongue may convey aggression or perhaps death because dying animals are depicted with lolling tongues. Either condition is in keeping with the creature's ferocity.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineFigural Pendant, 400–700. Panama, Darién or Venado Beach region, Openwork style, 5th-8th Century. Cast gold; overall: 7.8 x 5.3 x 2.3 cm (3 1/16 x 2 1/16 x 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Benjamin P. Bole, 1946.80
