Saint Mark's lion

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This famous sculpture is one of the symbols of Venice. A bronze figure of a winged lion on top of a massive granite column has adorned Piazza San Marco for over 8oo years. Actually, the name of the square and the statue are inextricably linked, because the winged lion is the traditional symbol of the Evangelist Mark.

The winged lion and the granite column came to Venice during the era of the Crusades. At the very end of the 11th century, the Venetian fleet assisted Byzantium in the war against the Phoenician city of Tire. As a reward, the city received three granite columns. True, only two reached Venice itself - one drowned while unloading. Then for many years the columns lay dead weight in the port, because no one could think of a way to lift granite monoliths weighing more than a hundred tons. The task was completed in 1196 - the engineer and architect Niccolo Barattieri installed the columns vertically using ordinary hemp ropes. Apparently, around the same time, the capital of one of the columns was decorated with a bronze winged lion, which has since become the heraldic symbol of Venice.

For the first time, a lion (which is often called a griffin) is mentioned in the documents of the Grand Council of the Venetian Republic for 1293. And even then it was about the need to restore the precious sculpture. Where is the birthplace of this statue, which is distinguished by the amazing subtlety of working with metal? For a long time it was considered the creation of anonymous Venetian foundry workers of the 13th century. But the real answer, apparently, must be sought about 2500 years ago in the great empires of the past - Assyria, Babylon or Persia. More precisely, alas, it is difficult to say. But the mystery of the biography only adds value to the bronze lion.

It is not surprising that the figure crowning the column attracted the attention of the conquerors. In 1797, the young Napoleon Bonaparte deposed the Doge of Venice, and, as a sign that the city was conquered, ordered to remove the winged lion from the pedestal. The sculpture was loaded onto a ship and sent to Paris, where it took its place in front of the famous House of the Invalids. There the lion stood until the fall of the Napoleonic empire. After the Vienna Congress, at which the victorious countries determined the rules of life in the new Europe, the "prisoner" was sent home. It was then that misfortune happened: on the way to Venice, the sculpture fell and shattered into 84 fragments! Many were convinced that it would no longer be possible to restore the masterpiece.

However, a certain Bartolomeo Ferrari undertook to argue with this, who promised to restore the winged lion in its former form. To be honest, he did not do well with the work: he roughly fastened the parts together with numerous bolts and seams, melted some of the parts in a furnace, and simply filled one of the paws with cement! However, we must admit that if it were not for him, the symbol of Venice would have been lost forever.

Fortunately, the bronze face of a lion, wavy mane, as well as several fragments of paws have been preserved intact to this day. The last time a lengthy restoration of the sculpture took place was from 1985 to 1991. Then the Venetians showed the whole world how they value their winged patron: the way from the restoration workshops to the place of installation, the statue made in a gondola entwined with flowers.