Item PY20

Dimensions: 48 x 24 cm.  This vintage print has some slight wear around the edges of the border due to age; this does not affect the actual image and will not be visible once the print is properly matted and framed.

The caption on the bottom of the print reads as follows:

Stairway Relief, Apadana Palace, Persepolis (6th-5th Century BC)

This five-foot detail of a lion and bull in combat is a recurrent theme among Persepolis' sculptures.  Its meaning challenges scholars. Some think it represents seasonal change at the time of the vernal equinox; the lion, symbol of the summer sun, defeats the bull, winter's rain. Other experts note that at Persepolis, come dusk on the equinox, the constellation Leo (the lion) is at its zenith and Taurus (the bull) is setting.