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Voussoir with Lion

late 12th–early 13th century
Not on view
This angled stone, which depicts a lion snapping at the thick vine encircling its body, once formed part of an arched door frame. The vegetal pattern likely continued on the adjacent blocks (now lost), uniting the archway’s individual stones. Said to come from Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, in fact the sculpture’s origin remains a mystery. By the mid-nineteenth century, it decorated the garden of Pierre-Yon Vernière in Aniane, near Saint-Guilhem, and Barnard purchased it from the dealer Louis Cornillon.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Voussoir with Lion
  • Date: late 12th–early 13th century
  • Geography: Made in Languedoc, France
  • Culture: South French
  • Medium: Stone
  • Dimensions: 12 1/4 × 11 × 6 3/4 in. (31.1 × 27.9 × 17.1 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Architectural
  • Credit Line: The Cloisters Collection, 1925
  • Object Number: 25.120.122
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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