User:Slen1432/Lion of Venice

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lion of Venice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search

This page is about the ancient bronze statue. For the traditional icon of St Mark, see Lion of Saint Mark.
The Lion of Venice
The Lion of Venice
ArtistUnknown
YearCirca 300 BC
TypeBronze
LocationPiazza San Marco
Venice, Italy
The Lion seen from ground level in 2017.
The Lion seen from the Doges Palace.

The Lion of Venice is an ancient bronze winged lion sculpture in the Piazza San Marco of Venice, Italy, which symbolizes St. Mark, one of its patron saints, and eventually the entire city of Venice after its arrival in the 12th century.[1] The sculpture surmounts one of two large granite columns in the Square, thought to have been erected between 1172–1177 either during the reign of Doge Sebastiano Ziani[2] or about 1268,[3] bearing ancient symbols of the two patron saints of Venice.

The Lion sculpture has had a very long and obscure history. It is believed that the statue began as a winged lion-griffin statue on a monument to the god

Sandon at Tarsus in Cilicia about 300 BC.[4]
In the present-day, lions can be seen scattered all across Venice.

Description

The Lion is depicted having its mouth semi open, a wide face, minimal mane, and wings. The statue weighs approximately 3,000 kilograms. Later, a halo on its head and book under its front paws was added to represent St. Mark. The book is often inscribed with the Latin phrase, "Pax tibi Marce Evangetlista meus," which translates in English to, "Peace to you, Mark, my Evangelist."[5]

History

Origin

The Lion, in its present form, is a composite of different pieces of bronze created at very different times, building upon ancient "core" components. It has undergone extensive restoration and repair work at various times.

Scholarship over the last 200 years variously attributed the

Sassania, Greco-Bactria, medieval Venice, and various other times and places. Scientific and art historical studies in the 1980s, however, led to the conclusion that it was created between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd centuries BC somewhere in the Hellenistic Greek or Oriental Greek
world. The original bronze figure, taken as a whole, was likely significantly different from the Lion of today; and, predating Christianity, would not have originally had any association with Saint Mark.

Medieval

It is likely that the statue was assembled into something like its present form by or during the Medieval period. The earliest textual reference to the Lion is from 1293, when it is recorded as having been restored after long neglect.

Expatriation and repatriation

Piazzetta di San Marco with the two columns
in their centuries-old setting.

The Lion was taken to France after Napoleon's conquest of the Venetian Republic, during his 1797 campaign in Italy. It was damaged in the course of removal and transport; lacking wings, paws, tail, and Gospel-book. After being restored by French sculptors, possibly Edme Gaulle or Jean Guillaume Moitte, the Lion was mounted on a plinth in the new Fontaine des Invalides. The fountain, completed in 1804, was located at the Place des Invalides, Paris.

Fontaine des Invalides (cropped)

After Napoleon's downfall the Lion was returned to Venice, now a part of the Austrian Empire. On 2 October 1815, during the process of removal, it was again badly damaged. A rope broke, the statue fell, and smashed apart; whether by accident, or deliberate sabotage by one of the French workers is unclear. As a result, the bronze figure was broken into approximately 20 pieces. Having lost its main ornament, the Fontaine des Invalides was eventually redesigned, and finally demolished in 1840.

Repatriated to Venice, the fragments of the Lion were stored at the Arsenal before it was repaired by Bartolomeo Ferrari and returned to its column, officially, on 13 April 1816. This restoration included an alteration to the Lion's tail, now extended, which had previously been tucked between its hind legs. The book beneath its paws was again recast; the French replacement having been lost, stolen, or abandoned.

Scientific analysis

Iconography

Ultimately, the image of the Lion appeared on the

Venice International Film Festival.[6]

See also

Media related to Lion of Venice (ancient bronze sculpture) at Wikimedia Commons

References

  • Includes material from the French Wikipedia article about the Fontaine des Invalides.
  1. ^ a b Griffith, Elizabeth (1 September 2005). "The Winged Lion of St. Mark: Logo of Venice, Inc" (PDF). European Business History Association: 25. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  2. ^ Madden, Thomas F., Venice: islands of honor and profit: a new history (2012), Penguin Books, p. 98.
  3. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection
    , pg 79 and note 10 on pg 10.
  4. ^ Scarfi, Bianca Maria, ”The Bronze Lion of St Mark” (1990); In: Scarfi, Bianca Maria, editor, The Lion of Venice: Studies and Research on the Bronze Statue in the Piazzetta, Prestel Publishing, pp. 31-124.
  5. ^ Cornali, Erika and Gabbrielli, Matteo. "The Venetian Lion Explained". When in Venice. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  6. ^ Donati, Silvia (August 31, 2018). "Everything You Need to Know About the Venice Film Festival". Italy Magazine.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Slen1432/Lion_of_Venice&oldid=989099263"