Statue of what was wrongly identified by Blundell as a tigress but more likely to be a leopard with the characteristic small head, rounded ears, long tail and large paws and the irregular spotting although in the statue is light on dark rather than dark on light as in nature. The animal seems to be resting although she has a certain alertness as suggested by the lift and turn of the head towards her right shoulder. Her expression is almost humane especially the contraction of her brow. She has a ram's head under the right paw. The animal is also a mother as it is suggested by her underside breasts. She may have killed because she needed to feed her offspring. The body is made of grey spotted granite and the eyes of yellow marble, called 'giallo antico'.
Bartman suggested that the inspiration may have come from Egyptian statues of lions examples of which were also in Rome. The Roman used realistic representation of animals to allude to the pastoral or divine realms.
Said to have been found with two Egyptian vases in a vineyard near the Porta Portese in Rome. This type of statue may have been used as a grave monument.