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Column base - Couchant lion

Couchant lion

  • Object:

    Column base

  • Place of origin:

    Apulia, Italy (possibly, made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1200 (carved)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Carved marble

  • Museum number:

    324A-1889

  • Gallery location:

    Medieval and Renaissance, room 8, case FS

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This lion formed the support for a column the base of which was carved integrally. The weathering of the lion, which is most severe around the head suggests that it was used externally to flank a door or window. The relatively small size of the lion means it is comparable to examples beside the windows in the apses of the cathedrals of Bitonto and Troia and on the façade of the Cathedral at Termoli.

Physical description

The lion is carved in one with its rectangular base and the base of the column resting on its back. The head of the lion is turned to its right, and the end of the tail rests on its left flank.

Place of Origin

Apulia, Italy (possibly, made)

Date

ca. 1200 (carved)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Carved marble

Dimensions

Height: 56.3 cm, Width: 71 cm base, Depth: 32.4 cm base, Weight: 200 kg

Object history note

This marble lion, one of a pair, is heavily weathered, and so would appear to have been originally displayed in an external position, probably as Pope-Hennessy (cat. nos. 10 and 11) suggested, as flanking a window on the outside of the church. Similar lions may be seen in various places Apulia, at Bitonto, Troia and Trani.

Apulia seems the most likely place these two lions were executed, around 1200.

Descriptive line

Marble column base in the shape of a couchant lion, South Italian, possibly Apulia, ca. 1200

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

List of Objects in the Art Division South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1889. Arranged according to the dates of acquisition, with appendix and indices. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1890. pp. 34
Pope Hennessey, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964. pp.11
Williamson, Paul. Catalogue of Romanesque Sculpture. London, V&A Publications, 1983. pp. 82-3
Prandi, A et al. L'art dans l'Italie méridionale. Aggiornamento dell'opera di Emile Bertaux. Rome, 1978, vi.

Materials

Marble

Techniques

Carved

Subjects depicted

Lion

Categories

Sculpture

Collection code

SCP

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Qr_O16296
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