Appreciation of Famous Paintings La Ma Su

Lamassu's scientific name is "human face, cow body, winged beast", and "human face" means human face; "The body of a cow" is the body of a bull; The last "wings" refer to the wings of an eagle. This is actually an imaginary mashup monster, which looks quite cute.

During the Assyrian Empire, Lamassu was a very common patron saint. They usually appear in pairs at the entrance of the palace to protect the safety of the palace and the city. In fact, it is very similar to the stone lion in front of our China Building.

When it comes to the Assyrian empire, we must first talk about the two river basins. The so-called "two rivers" refers to the Tigris River and the Euphrates River in the Middle East, while the "two rivers basin" refers to the Mesopotamian plain formed by the impact of these two rivers, which is now Iraq.

The two river basins are the cradles of human civilization, where the earliest known characters, cities and laws were born.

"Assyrian Empire" originated in the northern mountainous areas of the two river basins. It began to grow in the 9th century BC, and finally unified the two river basins and became a great empire. At that time, corresponding to China, it should be that shortly after the Western Zhou Dynasty began, Zhou Wuwang destroyed the Shang Dynasty.

Among all the Assyrian emperors, there was a very powerful one named Sargon II. This eldest brother directly built Assyria into a great empire across Asia and Africa.

Moreover, Sargon II did not want to live in the palace built by his predecessor. He wants to create a brand-new palace that belongs only to himself. So in 700 BC, he moved to Khorsabad, where he built a very luxurious palace. The Lamassu couple in the Louvre are the guardians of the palace.

"Lamassu" is very big, more than 4 meters high. The face part is really like the prince of the Middle East now: straight eyebrows, high nose and small curly beard, which is simply handsome.

Its bull body is carved very firmly, especially in the calf, and the muscle lines are very obvious.

But the most special thing about Lamassu is what I want to tell you, that is, the correct way to open it is actually a three-step process: first, you have to look at it from the front, and you will find that the two legs in front of it are close together, and it feels like it is just standing there, completely still.

Next, you have to run to its side, and you will find it very strange. Lamassu seems to be walking! Because its front and rear legs are crossed.

All you have to do is look at it at an oblique angle of 45 degrees, so everything is clear: because this beast actually has five legs, the craftsman at that time deliberately added an extra leg.