Mural Relief: Youth in Phrygian Hat Feeding a Griffin

This relief shows a young man pouring liquid from a pitcher into a container he offers to a thirsty, sitting griffin. The scene refers to a Greek myth in which the one-eyed Arimaspian people tried to steal the griffins’ trove of gold: The young man hopes to steal the gold while the griffin is drinking. The griffin’s long, stylized wing has three horizontal rows of feathers that curve calligraphically inwards at the tip. The oversized crown on the griffin’s head associates the creature with imperial art. In the Renaissance, artists continued to evoke themes of worldly dominance through the imagery of winged creatures.