Recumbent Lion
Description
Statue, Lion recumbent. Old Kingdom, early dynasty 4–5, ca. 2575–2450 B.C. Granite. L. 201 cm (79 1/8 in); w. 73 cm (28 3/4 in); h. 87 cm (34 1/4 in). From: Herakleopolis (Ihnasya el-Medina), Fayum Entrance Area, Egypt. Excavation: EEF excavations 1890-1891. Subject: Lions. Credit: Purchase, Anonymous Gift, in honor of Annette de la Renta; Annette de la Renta Gift; and Anne and John V. Hansen Egyptian Purchase Fund, 2000.
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A granite sculpture depicts a recumbent lion lying on a rectangular base, shown in side view with the head turned slightly forward and paws folded.
The image shows a finished stone statue of a lion in a recumbent posture. The lion’s body is rendered in profile: the head has a defined muzzle and a carved mane/body surface with incised texture; the mouth area is not clearly open and the ears are pointed. One front paw is visible tucked near the base; the other appears similarly positioned on the ground plane of the base. The sculpture rests on a rectangular plinth with simple edging; no clear decorative bands are visible on the front of the base from this angle. The background is a neutral display setting. No legible hieroglyphs or other scripts are visible on the stone or base in the provided view. No cartouches or royal names are present or discernible. No human figures, deities, or symbolic objects accompany the lion in this image.
Cross-references (4)
- Wikidata-Q Q116273581 tier-1
- Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- Inventory-Number 2000.485 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- MET-Object 549541 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.