I always laugh to see lions depicted so often in Europe.
Not real lions in zoos–I haven’t been to a zoo in Europe since 1984– but carved, painted and represented everywhere you go.
In spring 2013, I sought photos of lambs–I had envisioned an Easter blog post about the lamb of God as seen in Italian cathedrals.
I didn’t see many.
But lions in Europe?
Everywhere.
On our 2018 trip, I saw carved lambs, but again, lions in Europe dominated the artistic imagination!
Were there actual lions in Europe?
Yes, but no one knows if they were related to Asiatic and African lions or a species of their own.
Lions ranged in the Mediteranean countries and as far north as Hungary, but were pretty much extinct by the first century AD.
Obviously, their ferocious memory lasted, now two millenium, in European imagination.
No surprise, they were hunted to death in sport, often with packs of dogs.
They keep them caged in toy shops.
They did exist in the Caucus Mountain region– basically the current Azerbaijan-Russia border–until the 10th century.
Revered as a symbol of power and might, “the king of the beasts,” also links to the Hebrew Lion of Judah–another name for the Messiah.
They appear as heraldry on the courts of arms of many countries, from Armenia to the United Kingdom.
As Wikipedia explains:
“The characteristic of the lion as royal animal in particular is due the influence of the Physiologus, an early Christian book about animal symbolism, originally written in Greek in the 2nd century and translated into Latin in about AD 400. It was a predecessor of the medieval bestiaries.”
While the animal itself is long gone, lions live on everywhere you look.
Here are carvings, paintings and frescos of lions in Europe, 2018.
Kutna Hora, Czech Republic
Potential gargoyles to decorate the outside of the church
Prague, Czech Republic
They were everywhere!
On the Charles Bridge. This one required a bandaid.
On a headstone in the Old Jewish Cemetery.
Even on the roof!
Wittenberg
Martin Luther’s hometown in northeastern Germany, knew about lions.
This lion statue is a detail from a stove in Luther’s home!
The one below is a detail from a painting from the era depicting the Luther’s trouble with the Pope.
Berlin
With all the riches stolen/purchased/commissioned in Berlin, it should be no surprise the museums have many representations from many different lands.
The lion wall of the Ishtar gate is one the prophet Daniel probably passed while visiting the Babylonian king.
It now shocks in the Pergamon Museum.
Like the British Museum, the Neues Museum also has Assyrian lion hunting murals.
And Roman mosaics.
We enjoyed seeing lions in Europe everywhere we traveled.
I just don’t see them adorning so much here in the United States as I casually walk down a street.
Have you got artistic lions in your neighborhood?
Tweetables
A 2018 visit to Europe seeing lions! Click to Tweet
So many lion depictions in Europe, but did the king of the beasts ever live there? Click to Tweet
Lions in art all over Eastern Europe. Click to Tweet
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