The Griffin: The Story

Eagle above, lion below. One body. Truly God and truly man.

What is a griffin?

The griffin is an old creature: the head and wings of an eagle on the body of a lion. The eagle was the king of the air. The lion was the king of the earth. Put them together and you get one animal that belongs fully to both worlds.

Why the griffin is a picture of Christ

Medieval Christians looked at that creature and saw the incarnation. Not half God and half man, and not a man who became sort of divine. Fully God and fully man, both natures whole, neither one swallowing the other. The church put it in plain words at the Council of Chalcedon in 451: one person in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation. The griffin says the same thing without a word.

Dante's griffin

In the Purgatorio, at the top of the mountain, Dante watches a griffin pull the chariot of the Church. Later he looks into Beatrice's eyes and sees the griffin reflected there, showing now one nature, now the other, while the beast itself never changes. It is one of the most beautiful pictures of the incarnation in all of literature, and it is a lion with wings.

Vere deus, vere homo

Under the griffin runs the old Latin line: vere deus, vere homo. Truly God, truly man. It is the confession the whole design is built on.

The design

The griffin is drawn in the style of a 19th century natural history plate, the kind of engraving you would find in an old bestiary or a museum drawer. One color, printed on a heavyweight tee in Bay or Ivory ($42), and on a heavyweight hoodie in Bone or Latte ($65).

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”John 1:14

Most people will just think it is a cool animal. That is fine. The ones who ask get the whole story.