Monday, September 15, 2014

A Hippogriff

A hippogriff is a legendary animal that has the foreparts of a winged griffin and the body and hindquarters of a horse. His “inventor” was Ludovico Ariosto in his “Orlando furioso”. Within the poem, the hippogriff is extremely fast, can fly around the world and also to the moon: riding this creature the wandering knight Roger is able to free the beautiful Angelica.
Hippogriff on a gate, via Roma, Livorno
Our hippogriff is one of a pair decorating an old gate in Via Roma.

External links: Hippogriff - Orlando Furioso (Wikipedia)
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10 comments:

  1. RevrunnerSeptember 15, 2014 at 12:38 AM

    Funny how these imaginary creatures have come down into our cultures.

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  2. William KendallSeptember 15, 2014 at 12:42 AM

    Remarkable details in this case!

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  3. JackSeptember 15, 2014 at 1:14 AM

    The ancients had good imaginations, didn't they?

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  4. RandySeptember 15, 2014 at 4:24 AM

    Nice close up and post.

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  5. DinaSeptember 15, 2014 at 8:24 AM

    I'd love to have a hippogriff on my gate.
    There is but ONE house in my town that has a mythological creature on their fence and I always slow my gait when I walk by to enjoy it anew.

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  6. Cezar and LéiaSeptember 15, 2014 at 10:51 AM

    This hippogriff is adorable! Thanks for the information, I'm always learning interesting things with blog friends!So cool!
    Hugs
    Léia

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  7. HalcyonSeptember 15, 2014 at 2:45 PM

    A very nice detail.

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  8. Luis GomezSeptember 15, 2014 at 2:47 PM

    Thank you VP. Very nice.

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  9. KarlSeptember 15, 2014 at 3:31 PM

    It's a beautiful decoration.

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  10. LoisSeptember 15, 2014 at 5:38 PM

    Fascinating! I have never heard of this legendary creature before.

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