Lion-griffin. Sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco (Porcuna, Jaén, Spain)

Sculptural group in round bundle that combines animal figures with architectural forms. The first of these animal figures is probably a lion, although its identification presents certain doubts. They come from the crest of the animal, which can indicate that it is an animal linked to the mythical world (a tap). This animal supports its front legs on a palmetto of five petals on which is placed a volute. From this one starts the tail of a snake, which passes between the front claws and surrounds the lion’s neck, disappearing towards the middle of the body, where it would continue. The finish of the piece suggests that it would have a single angle of observation, the left side. This group presents an imbalance in the quality of modeling, contrasting the excellent treatment given to the lion’s head and the palmetto with the one offered to the rest of the animal’s body. Chronology: 440-400 B.C. Dimensions Height = 80 cm Width = 30 cm Maximum thickness = 63 cm Weight = 101.5 Kg This piece belongs to the sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco, found in 1975 in the municipality of Porcuna (Jaén). This set constitutes nowadays the most important Iberian sculptural group of the known so far. It is composed of more than forty pieces that represent heroic struggles of men with each other or men with animals, hunting scenes, images of fantastic animals or important characters. Specifically, this scene belongs to the group known as mythological animals. This group includes figures of isolated mythological animals that do not interact with any of the characters belonging to the sculptural group. These animals would constitute the metaphorical bases of the landscapes expressed in the monument. Therefore the pairs of animals could go at the ends of each step of the front of the tower. In general, five groups are established: First and at the base of the tower, the sphinxes of which there is only one example but of which the turn of the head to the side could justify the existence of a second similar sculpture and with the head in opposite position. Both would protect the monument at its base, marking from the beginning that it is a mythical area, as the lions did in the Pajarillo. The struggles of the wolf with the lamb, of which there is a second fragmented example of two animals one fierce and another meek, would frame the duels. The grifo-lion, which has been described at first, with a snake that poses its claws on the bracket and the second tap whose action is unknown, because only the head is preserved, would complete the corners of the step of the zoomachias. The harpy or siren and the eagle would frame the mythical Oikos. The last couple formed by the two Hispanic goats around the body of the divinity would close the fifth level, but this figure is included in the group of The Ancestors. Currently the sculptures from Cerrillo Blanco can be visited in the Provincial Museum of Jaén and the archeological site in Porcuna (Jaén) is also visible, since it is one of the stops of the cultural route “Journey to the time of the Iberos” with which it is intended to value the iberas first level traces existing in the province of Jaén. Bibliography: Chapa, T. (2015): “Los escultores del Cerrillo Blanco de Porcuna,” in A. Ruiz y M. Molinos (coord.): Jaén, ibera land. 40 years of research and transfer. University of Jaén. Jaén. Olmos, R. (2002): “The sculptural groups of Cerrillo Blanco de Porcuna (Jaén). A convergent iconographic reading essay.” Spanish Archive of Archaeology, 75 107-122. Ruiz, A. and Molinos, M. (2015): “The sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco, Porcuna,” in A. Ruiz and M. Molinos (Eds.): Jaén, Iberian land 40 Years of research and transfer. University of Jaén. 67-84. Torrecillas, J. F. (1985): The late period cemetery of Cerrillo Blanco. Institute of Giennenses Studies. Jaén.