The Frescoes of Divine Animals at the Archaeological Museum of Naples in Italy

Griffin, Pompeii, Insula Occidentalis

Fresco - Water-based pigments on Coating (54 × 85 cm) 50 BC

Griffin fresco, Pompeii, Insula Occidentalis, Archaeological Museum of Naples

Griffin This fresco depicts a griffin, a mythological creature, painted on a red background with its wings spread and its lion's clawed paws resting on a marble pedestal.

The griffin is a hybrid creature that combines the body of an eagle with that of a lion.

For the Romans, the griffin was associated with the world of the dead and symbolised the goddess Nemesis.

It is an apotropaic creature, believed to divert evil influences to another person.

It was therefore depicted in homes as a guarantor of divine justice and a protector of the hearth.

Fight between the griffins and the Arimaspes, Pompeii, Villa dei Misteri

Fresco - Water-based pigments on coating (123 × 180 cm) 60–50 BC

This magnificent fresco, from the Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii, depicts the battle between the griffins guarding Apollo's riches and the legendary people of the Arimaspi of Scythia, who, like the Cyclopes, had only one eye.

Fresco depicting the battle between the griffins and the Arimaspi, Pompeii, Villa dei Misteri, Archaeological Museum of Naples

Battle between the griffins and the Arimaspes Here we see a giant griffin with its wings spread, standing on its hind legs.

The claws of its front legs have grasped the shield that the Arimaspes is trying to hold above him for protection. Athena is depicted on the right, in the centre of the large golden shield.

On the left, we can see a large antique vase, a silver crater decorated with gold friezes.

It should be remembered that in Roman times, the protection of Apollo's treasures by griffins was more than symbolic, as Apollo was also the protector god of the emperor.

The sacred animals of the Temple of Isis in Pompeii

The frescoes of sacred animals below were discovered in the Sacrarium of the Temple of Isis in Pompeii.

Fresco of the Sacred Ibis of the Nile, Pompeii, Temple of Isis, Sacrarium, Archaeological Museum of Naples

Sacred Ibis of the Nile A representation of a sacred Nile ibis wearing a lotus flower was also discovered in the Sacrarium of the Temple of Isis.

In the time of the pharaohs, it was believed that the sacred Nile ibis protected Egypt from epidemics.

Killing a sacred ibis was punishable by death!

A fresco depicts the deities of the Nile, the baboon, the snake, the ram, the vulture, the mole, the mongoose and the dog or jackal.

The following fresco shows the Apis bull, the sacred bull of Egyptian mythology.

The god Apis is represented either in anthropomorphic form, as a man with a bull's head whose horns enclose a solar disc, or in the form of a bull, as is the case in this fresco.

The last fresco depicts a sacred cobra, the Uræus, the female cobra that protected the pharaoh from his enemies, was also assimilated with Isis.

The Uræus snake is wearing the atef in this work, which was not only the crown of the pharaohs, but also that of Osiris.

Fresco of the Nile Deities, the baboon, the snake, the ram, the vulture, the mole, the mongoose and the dog or jackal, Pompeii, Temple of Isis, Sacrarium, Archaeological Museum of Naples

Nile deities, baboon, snake, ram, vulture, mole, mongoose, dog or jackal

Apis Bull

Sacred Cobra