Vogueing in Assyria

At the MET, in the Assyrian wing, they have guardian lamassu on display.  If I could figure out where to put them, I would like some at our house.  I think they'd be a bit much for the front entrance, but maybe in the back yard.  I am not sure if Mark would be up for it, though.

I like these lamassu because of the way the feathers are displayed on their wings.  I also like the strength in their legs.  Their faces look somebody's kindly librarian-grandfather.

Okay, I like their hats, too.








In the same hall are vulture-headed spirts vogueing.  Sure, they might be tending to a tree, but it's hard not to imagine them strutting down a runway as they show off their purses, arm-bands, and wrist-watches.









I'm not sure what they're doing with the pine-cones.  (Reads https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/322613 ). Oh.  Okay; the purses may be buckets filled with holy water, and the pine-cones are referred to as "purifiers" and may be used to sprinkle holy water on people or things.

Now I love the pine-cones even more.



I like their wings.  These guys look a little scarier than the lamassu, mostly because they have beaks for faces.   I like their art-deco calf and forearm muscles.  The way that the artists have carved them shows off their masculine strength without making them overtly sexual (contrasting with some depictions of Hercules or Prometheus).

I should ask Mark what he would think of these guys in the garden or maybe along the front porch...  Perhaps we could paint their likenesses along the walls of our little interior square hall just off of the living room area.  (Somehow, I think if any images were to go up in that hall -- and I'm not sure where exactly they'd go -- Mark would be more up for photographs of our family members.)

The only aspect of these sculptures that I'm not thrilled with are the standard inscriptions overlaying the figures.  I suppose I should learn Assyrian cuneiform one of these days, but my understanding is that most of these inscriptions (like Egyptian royal cartouches) are long lists of all the great things King So-and-so has done (usually involving ordering the universe, military exploits, building projects,  and various law codes).