Guardian Lion, Northern Qi Dynasty, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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One of a pair, this fierce guardian lion bares his fangs, crouches, and grips the platform underneath him with splayed claws. Pairs of stone lions have been found protecting Han-dynasty tombs (206 B.C.–220 A.D.) and they became more prevalent following the inclusion of lion iconography in Buddhist cave temples in northern China during the fifth and sixth centuries. Excavations of Northern Qi tombs have unearthed pairs of protective lions defending the entrance to the innermost chamber containing the coffin. This guardian lion's fully modeled body and rippling muscles is illustrative of Northern Qi sculpture, which was more rounded and naturalistic than the elongated and linear forms of the preceding Northern Wei (386–534) and Eastern Wei (534–550) dynasties. The stylized whorl pattern along the lion's shoulders is common on carvings in relief as well as sculptures in the round from this period. While the Northern Qi dynasty was brief and was supplanted by the Northern Zhou in 577, its sculptural achievements provided direction and inspiration for stone sculpture in the succeeding centuries when China was unified first under the Sui dynasty (581–618) and then under the Tang dynasty (618–906)   This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.