Detailed Information: 

Title: Bronze Handle in the Form of a Lion

Country or Culture of Origin: Greek

Date: 5th century B.C.

Medium: Bronze

Written Analysis:

This piece of bronze handle was molded into the form of a lion. As can be seen, it’s more stylish than realistic. For example, the head of the lion is backward in a sense that wouldn’t be possible for a lion. The lion is slender and depicted rather delicate than dominating and oppressive as we would expect from the king of the jungle. This art piece emphasizes the enormous paws, in comparison to the rest of the body, and bared teeth. This is quite surprising seeing how the artist chooses to create such features for a lion that initially came off as delicate. It counters the tiny mane and slender body and makes it more symmetric to the image we have of a lion. 

This is most likely just a representation of a lion since there isn’t much else besides the lion and the plates the lion’s paws stand on. The plates are decorative, similar to the lion, and molded into a form of a fan or something like so. The overall effect of how this lion is represented is, aforementioned, stylish and decorative. Although not particularly align with the typical image we have of lions, it fits the idea of the object, bronze handle, fairly well.