Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.
The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Unlike the Greek sphinx which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an androsphinx). In addition, the Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent in contrast to the malevolent Greek version and was thought of as a guardian often flanking the entrances to temples.
In European decorative art, the sphinx enjoyed a major revival during the Renaissance. (wiki)
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Ancient Thebes | Great Sphinx of Thebes | |
| Aranjuez | Two to the side of the palace, before entering the Island Garden | |
| Archaeological Site of Delphi | Ancient Greek sphinx found, now in museum | |
| Biblical Tells | Part of an ancient Egyptian king's sphinx at Tel Hazor | |
| Blenheim Palace | ||
| Budapest | Opera | |
| Champagne | At the gate of the Maison Perrier-Jouët (Lochet-Duchainet) on the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay (Nomination file, Tome III, p. 87) | |
| Chola Temples | Darasuram | |
| Delos | Greek sphinx, found at the surrounding archeological site, in the Delos Museum. | |
| Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz | At the Georgium | |
| Hampi | Depictions of Purushamriga | |
| Hattusha | ||
| Mantua and Sabbioneta | Two, inside the Sant'Andrea Church | |
| Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles | two Egyptian sphinxes in Palazzo della Ragione | |
| Paris, Banks of the Seine | Hotel de Ville | |
| Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro | Fuente egipcia | |
| Potsdam | The Orangerie (1791/93), with the Egyptian portal at the eastern side of the building, is guarded by a Sphinx. | |
| Prague | ||
| Pyramids (Memphis) | Great Sphinx of Giza | |
| Regensburg | Sphinx monument for Heinrich Carl Freiherrn von Gleichen, 1807 | |
| Riga | Eisenstein building at No 2A Albert Street | |
| Split | Granite sphinx at the center of the palace, brought from Egypt to guard the mausoleum where the emperor Diocletian was later burried | |
| St. Petersburg | Egyptian Bridge | |
| Strasbourg | pillars of Saint-Etienne church | |
| Studley Royal Park | ||
| Vatican City | At the loggia decoration painted by Rafael | |
| Vienna | Upper Belvedere Palace | |
| Villa d'Este | Mannerist sphinx |
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