~Charlotte Brontë
On a recent visit to Hillwood in D.C., I was taken with the sphinxes. Hillwood has two terracotta sphinxes that were made in the 1700s: one representing Marie Antoinette, the other Marie Therese, Princess de Lamballe.
A sphinx is a mythical creature with the head of a human and body of a lion. They are guardians, and may be benevolent or not. In Greek tradition, they ask riddles...and you'd better get the answer right!
Sphinx at Hillwood
photo by Maia C
Sphinx statue on the Red Bridge, Aschaffenburg, Germany
photo by Maulaff
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
photo by Daniel H. Tong
Sphinx de la fontaine du Palmier, place du Châtelet, Paris
carved by Henri-Alfred Jacquemart
Harmonide
Sphinx, Chiswick House, London
photo by Orangeaurochs
by Odilon Redon, 1889
Illustration from the book Gargantua
Gustave Doré
Cool subject today, Tabatha. I've always found the sphinx to be one of the most peculiar creatures people have "invented."
ReplyDeleteWhen I was looking over the images, two things popped into my mind:
1) What kind of riddle would Marie Antoinette ask?
2) It was very interesting that someone created a sphinx fountain. (Now say sphinx fountain three times fast.)