ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2011

I'm doing a history of the gryphons/griffons/griffins' forms and how they've come to be the diverse creatures we see today in artwork.

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Seventh version

The first gryphon artwork was discovered in famous frescoes of Knossos's Bronze Age throne room. It had a long, tip-less tail and intricate shoulder designs. But the most striking feature to a modern-day griffin fan is that the only bird feature on the earliest gryphon is a head- no wings or other feathered tidbits. It is believed that the gryphon was a misinterpretation of a Protoceratops skeleton, found in gold mines. Regardless, it is the beginnings of the creature many love today.

Source : Wikipedia. (That's a rephrase, not a copy&paste)

Art (c) SlippingStar