English

Lion

after 1200
On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 01
By portraying this lion with his muscles taut, his fur standing on end, and his gaze intense, the artist conveyed the power of this snarling big cat. Medieval beasts, whether real or imaginary, were often imbued with symbolic meaning, as they are in animal fables today. It is not always possible, however, to reconstruct their specific intention in a given monument, and such beasts could be for “aesthetic delight,” as one thirteenth-century archbishop commented. The monastery from which this fresco comes was abandoned in 1841.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lion
  • Date: after 1200
  • Geography: Made in Burgos, Castile-León, Spain
  • Culture: Spanish
  • Medium: Fresco, mounted on canvas
  • Dimensions: Overall: 10 ft. 11 in. x 11 ft. (332.7 x 335.3 cm)
    Overall (top panel): 83 x 132 in. (210.8 x 335.3 cm)
    Overall (lower panel): 48 x 132 in. (121.9 x 335.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings-Fresco
  • Credit Line: The Cloisters Collection, 1931
  • Object Number: 31.38.1a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

Audio

Cover Image for 11. Lion

11. Lion

Gallery 1

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NARRATOR #2/JANNIE WOLF: This early thirteenth-century fresco and the one on the other side of the doorway are superb examples of Romanesque wall painting. Originally, they adorned the walls of the chapter house of the monastery at San Pedro de Arlanza in northern Spain. There, the fresco on the left—a threatening lion with the face of an angry mustachioed man—faced a second lion on the other side of the entrance. The winged, horned, dragon on the right similarly faced off against a griffin. The border strip under the lion includes an aquatic motif, while the one under the dragon represents fanciful scenes of unknown origin: a pair of bird sirens or harpies argues between themselves; a lyre-playing donkey entertains a fox and a goat. The style of these frescoes is comparable to that of Spanish manuscript illuminations of the time. This style was also probably influenced by Islamic textiles. Much of Southern Spain was Islamic at this time, and much of Spanish Romanesque art shows the effects of the cross-fertilization of Christian and Islamic cultures. The room for which these frescoes were painted was about thirty-four feet square, with twelve-foot ceilings, and covered from floor to ceiling with frescoes. The monastery fell into ruin in the nineteenth century and these frescoes were removed from their original location in the early twentieth century.

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