Medici lions

This article is about the sculptures of lions with spheres. For the heraldic symbol of Florence, see Marzocco.

Vacca's lion.

Fancelli's ancient lion.

The Medici lions are two lion sculptures placed around 1600^[1] at the Villa Medici, Rome, Italy, and since 1789 displayed at the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence. The sculptures depict standing male lions with a sphere under one claw, looking to the side. The Medici lions have also been copied, or strongly inspired new sculptures, in many other locations.

History

The lions were commissioned by Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had acquired the Villa Medici in 1576, to serve as majestic ornaments for the villa's garden staircase, the Loggia dei leoni. The first lion originates from a 2nd century (BC)^[2] marble relief which was reworked by Giovanni di Scherano Fancelli in 1598.^[2]

The original Medici lions at their first location; the Villa Medici's Loggia dei leoni. Etching by Giovanni Francesco Venturini 1691.

The second was made, also in marble, as a pendant to the ancient sculpture between 1594 and 1598^[2] or between 1570 and 1590^[3] by Flaminio Vacca.^[4]

The Villa Medici was passed to the house of Lorraine in 1737, and in 1787^[2][5][6] the lions were moved to Florence, and since 1789^[5] they flank the steps to the Loggia dei Lanzi at the Piazza della Signoria.

The sculptures were replaced by copies at the Villa Medici when Napoleon relocated the French Academy in Rome to the villa in 1803.^[1]

Versions

Study of one of the Medici Lions by Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (1762-1844)

• The original Medici lions (1598), since 1789 at the Loggia dei Lanzi, Piazza della Signoria, Florence.
• A smaller bronze left-looking sculpture attributed to Italian sculptor Pietro da Barga^[7] and the same period.^[3]
• Slottslejonen (Swedish for The Palace Lions) in bronze, by Bernard Foucquet at the Royal Palace, Stockholm (1700–1704).^[8]
• Copies at the Villa Medici (1803).^[1]
• Versions in Saint Petersburg, Russia include^[9]:
  • The Lion Cascade in bronze at Peterhof Palace (1799–1801).
  • Sculptures in marble at the Lobanov-Rostovsky Residence (constructed 1817-1820).^[10]
  • Sculptures in bronze at the staircase of the old Mikhailovsky Palace (constructed 1819-1825).^[11]
  • Sculptures at the entrance of Yelagin Palace (completed 1822).
  • The Lions at the Dvortsovaya pier in bronze at the Admiralty embankment (1832).
• Two gilded versions as part of the Lion Fountain in front of Glienicke Palace (1824-1826), Berlin.
• Two artificial stone versions are found in the garden of the Osborne House (1845–1851), Isle of Wight.^[12]
• Sculptures in marble at the Vorontsovsky Palace, Ukraine (installed 1848).
• The Florentine Lions in bronze in the Fairmount Park, Philadelphia (cast in 1849, installed 1887).^[13]
• The pair of lions on the western end of the eponymous Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, Florida (constructed 1925-1927).^[14]
• Sculptures in bronze at the Stanley Park, Blackpool (opened 1926).
• The Swedish lion in bronze in Narva, Estonia. A version of one of the Slottslejonen was first erected in 1936 but lost during the German occupation. A sized-down copy was re-erected in 2000.^[8]
• Sculpture in limestone at the Museum of Outdoor Arts, Colorado (founded 1981).^[15]
• Several^[16] sculptures at the Terrasse des Orangers in Parc de Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, Paris (of unknown origin).^[17]

See also

• Marzocco
• Cultural depictions of lions
• Chinese guardian lions

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} virtualtourist.com
2. ^ ^{a b c d} clevermag.com
3. ^ ^{a b} tomassobrothers.co.uk
4. ^ The statues of the Loggia della Signoria in Florence: masterpieces restored, by Giovanna Giusti Galardi, page 129
5. ^ ^{a b} borghiditoscana.net
6. ^ Augustin Pajou: royal sculptor, 1730-1809
7. ^ answers.com on Pietro da Barga
8. ^ ^{a b} Translated from Swedish Wikipedia.
9. ^ ru:Львы Дворцовой пристани
10. ^ http://www.encspb.ru/en/article.php?kod=2804003747
    http://www.leospb.ru/en/leo.php?id=42
11. ^ http://www.encspb.ru/en/article.php?kod=2804003847
12. ^ The Gardens of English Heritage, by Linden Groves, Gillian Mawrey, page 102
13. ^ waymarking.com; si.edu
14. ^ [1]
15. ^ moaonline.org
16. ^ At least three visible in File:Parc Saint-Cloud2.jpg.
17. ^ commons:Category:Medici lions at the Château de Saint-Cloud, larva-e.de

Sources

• Michel Hochmann: Villa Medici, il sogno di un Cardinale – Collezioni e artisti di Ferdinando de’ Medici, De Luca, 1999, p. 208–11, nos. 37–40, illus. pp. 209–11
• Roberto Manescalchi Il Marzocco / The lion of Florence. In collaborazione con Maria Carchio, Alessandro del Meglio, english summary by Gianna Crescioli. Grafica European Center of Fine Arts e Assessorato allo sport e tempo libero, Valorizzazioni tradizioni fiorentine, Toponomastica, Relazioni internazionale e gemellaggi del comune di Firenze, novembre, 2005.

Coordinates: 59°56′23″N 30°18′32″E / 59.93972°N 30.30889°E / 59.93972; 30.30889