Lion at rest, 16th century sculpture

late sixteenth century
Lion at rest
Stone, 32 cm, height. 24cm

The lion is the zoomorphic image par excellence, the repository of a complex set of multiple meanings. Symbol of virulent action since ancestral times, due to the hunting that was conducted there and which allowed the animal's strength to be attracted once defeated, the Eastern world developed a triumphal reflection of it, subsequently adopted by the Byzantine world when the Constantinopolitan weapon prevailed over the Sasanian one. Christian culture followed the pagan-Roman culture in adopting the popular belief that, once dead cubs were born, all lionesses were able to resurrect them with their own breath, three days after the fatal birth. The Christian commentaries supported the parallelism between the past days of the rebirth of the lion cubs and Christ, to benefit Him from a further metaphorical figuration. Furthermore, within the religious context, the tradition of the lion as a symbol of the tribe of Judah, which had given birth to Christ in the century, was already widespread. Subsequently, symbol of the evangelist Mark, the lion was placed as a column-supporting prothyrum at the entrances of the early Christian and Romanesque churches, a sculptural benevolent guardian for the faithful, co-leading the double meaning of silent judge and personification of Christ, which already the liturgical topography he had recognized as a living Door. The Masters of Campione sculpted stylophores for the protyrus of the Cathedral of Modena (1160-1175), like what happened for the access to the Cathedral of Trani (XII), while Nicola Pisano sculpted several others for his pulpit in the Cathedral of Siena (1265-1268). The sculpture of the lion adorned villas and royal residences, such as in Palermo in the "genorardo" royal park, as well as fountains and patios, such as that of los Leones in the Alhambra (second half of the XNUMXth century, Granada). A heraldic emblem of profound suggestion, even in modern times the present animal has been endowed with celebratory capabilities as many manifest glories had been achieved by the character to whom the image was attributed.

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