Wild animals
Human domination of
nature has been represented in art and objects since ancient times.
Often this is done through scenes showing wild animals being
hunted. Imposing order on the chaotic and unpredictable natural
world has often been used as a metaphor for the power of kings, or
of gods, over ordinary people. The hunter subdues the lion or the
tiger, just as the king subdues his enemies.
The triumph of order over chaos
On a gold pendant from a group of objects known as the
Ai
gina treasure, a male
deity figure stands among lotus flowers, his arms outstretched to
grasp a goose by the neck with each hand. The animals allow us to
identify him as a god. This pose, known as that of the 'Master (or
Mistress) of the Animals', is intended to show that the deity
subdues the wild animals, and therefore has control over nature. It
is more common with a female central figure.
At the dawn of Egyptian civilisation, around 3150 BC, wild
lions, ibexes and 
ostriches are amongst the animals being shown
hunted on a ceremoinial palette. This theme evoked the struggle
between ordered civilisation and the chaotic world beyond.
Beauty and power
Although we wonder at the beauty and power of the wild animal,
we may also secretly admire its apparent freedom to act without
restraint. The unpredictability and strange beauty of the wild has
fascinated us through the ages.
The wild animal, although fearsome, may also be seductive. The
predator may lull its prey into a false sense of security before
striking without warning.
The cat-like liones
s in a Phoenician
carved ivory panel from around the ninth to eighth century BC
embraces a submissive (or perhaps already dead) Nubian boy,
apparently with tender care, as she delivers the fatal bite.
However, we cannot see her deadly teeth and the boy isn’t
struggling. This predatory female could almost be kissing the boy’s
neck.
Lions were regularly represented in art on
wall reliefs and as elements of furniture in the ancient Near East.
The lion symbolised the power of nature and is often associated
with the king to demonstrate royal power, as it was his duty to
defeat the forces of nature that the lion represented.
This small alabaster panel was part of a series of wall panels
that showed a royal hunt. It has long been acclaimed as a
masterpiece for Assyrian artist’s skilful observation and realistic
portrayal of the animal.
Struck by one of the king's arrows, blood gushes from the
lion
's mouth. Veins
stand out on its face. From a modern viewpoint, it is tempting to
think that the artist sympathized with the dying animal. However,
lions were regarded as symbolizing everything that was hostile to
urban civilization and it is more probable that the viewer was
meant to laugh, not cry.
There was a very long tradition of royal lion hunts in
Mesopotamia, with similar scenes known from the late fourth
millennium BC. The connection between kingship and lions was
probably brought to Western Europe as a result of the crusades in
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries AD, when lions began to be
used to decorate royal coats of arms.
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