Cats in Art: A Lion Gutter Spout

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art.  Having moved on from Stefano Zuffi's marvelous work, The Cat in Art, I am now using some ideas from Caroline Bugler's equally impressive book, The Cat/3500 Years of the Cat in Art.   

After several posts on the art of Chardin, I am diverting into some art that the bride and I just saw in Italy on a wonderful visit to the Amalfi Coast.

Below are a couple of shots from a Roman villa near the Greek ruins of Paestum, Italy.

 Image credits Gary

So those crazy Romans thought it was worthwhile and important to create art in the form of lion's head gargoyles, if you will, while building their rain gutters.  A simple hole or spout just would not have sufficed.  My hat is off to those guys from 2,000 years ago.

For scale, this section of gutter is perhaps a foot and a half in length, making the lion's head about 5" or so wide.

[Gary note: With my Cats in Arts posts, I encourage you to scope out the art appreciation site Artsy (I have no financial interest in the site, I just like it), where you can explore many aspects of the world of art.  You'll certainly be entertained and enlightened!]