This article investigates the origins and significance of images of griffins and sphinxes—hybrid creatures of Greco-Roman tradition—in the marginal decorations of the so-called “Neapolitan Ovid” (BNN ms. IV F 3), the first illuminated manuscript of the Metamorphoses, probably from the late 11th century. Their form and style suggest specific iconographic origins and links with the decorative motifs from Antiquity that circulated in artistic objects around Bari, the manuscript’s place of origin. Among the many figures that provide a pictorial response to the poem’s content, the presence of these griffins and sphinxes offers compelling evidence of the survival of ancient imagery; they also invite us to explore the relationship between image and text in the illuminated book. From this analysis, we can better understand the complex role of these hybrid figures in the manuscript. Their existence is testimony to the continuity of marginal decorative systems derived from Antiquity that are present in objects and were articulated through the Islamic and Byzantine formal vocabularies accessible in Puglia at the time.

中文翻译：

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文本的守护者：那不勒斯奥维德的狮鹫和狮身人面像 (BNN ms. IV F 3)

本文探讨了狮鹫和狮身人面像——希腊罗马传统的混合生物——在所谓的“那不勒斯奥维德”(BNN ms. IV F 3) 边缘装饰中的起源和意义，这是第一份彩绘手稿变形记，可能来自 11 世纪后期。它们的形式和风格暗示了特定的肖像来源，以及与手稿发源地巴里周围艺术品中流传的古代装饰图案的联系。在众多对诗歌内容作出图片回应的人物中，这些狮身人面像和狮身人面像的存在提供了古代意象幸存的令人信服的证据；他们还邀请我们探索这本带插图的书中图像和文字之间的关系。从这个分析，我们可以更好地理解手稿中这些混合人物的复杂作用。它们的存在证明了源自古代的边际装饰系统的连续性，这些装饰系统存在于物体中，并通过当时在普利亚可用的伊斯兰和拜占庭正式词汇表达出来。