The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 16, 2026

A bronze sculpture with a mottled light green and tan patina depicts a hybrid animal with two heads. In profile, a bull head with curved horns faces right, while a lion head emerges from the shoulder, mouth open toward us. A dark, smooth green section covers the back, and fine incised lines suggest hair. The figure stands on four legs, showing aged surface wear and varying metal textures.

Composite Lion and Bull

1500–1000 BCE

Iran

bronze, cast
Overall: 11.4 x 9.7 x 14.8 cm (4 1/2 x 3 13/16 x 5 13/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1969.122
Location: 102A Ancient Near East

Description

Combining the strength of the lion and the fertility of the bull, this creature must have served as an object of worship in a temple or shrine.
  • -1969
    Mr. Ben Heller, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1969-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Vollenweider, Marie-Louise, Françoise Brüschweiler, and Rolf A. Stucky. Trésors de l'ancien Iran: [exposition] Musée Rath, Genève, 8 juin-25 septembre 1966. [Genève]: [Musée Rath], 1966. no. 533, front cover
    Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1969." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 57, no. 1 (1970). p. 6&44, no. 4 www.jstor.org
    Cooney, John D. "A Medley of Bulls." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 58, no. 1 (January 1971): 10-19. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 15, fig. 8 www.jstor.org
    Saidenberg Gallery. Beyond Europe: Sculptures from "Other Cultures" from the Collection of Ben Heller, Inc. 1971. fig. 9
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Gabriel P. Weisberg, and H. W. Janson. Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975. no. 96
  • Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
  • {{cite web|title=Composite Lion and Bull|url=false|author=|year=1500–1000 BCE|access-date=16 September 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.122