John J. Gredler Works of Art

19th Century Serpentine Carving of 'The Dying Lion' After Bertel Thorvaldsen

Beautifully carved Italian Grand Tour serpentine copy of Bertel Thorvaldsen's monumental sculpture 'The Lion of Lucerne' also known as 'The Dying Lion'. This rendition is a faithful reproduction of Thorvaldsen's masterpiece, carved out of the side of a cliff in Lucerne, Switzerland. After it was completed in 1816 it became a popular subject for Grand Tour souvenir copies, mostly smaller wood or metal versions. I have never seen one of this size and quality. Can be placed outdoors as a garden sculpture or indoors.  Circa 1825.

Great scale at 29 inches wide 15 high 11 deep

One of Thorvaldsen’s most interesting commissions is the “Dying Lion” monument at Lucerne in Switzerland, which is carved into a cliff, to commemorate the Swiss guards who died in the French Revolution defending the Tuileries (the royal residence in Paris). A Swiss guard who had been on leave at the time of the attack commissioned the piece. He wanted a dead lion on a pile of weapons with the French royal coat of arms and the Swiss flag, to show the loyalty and bravery of the 600 colleagues who died. Thorvaldsen refused to create a dead lion, choosing instead to design a lion taking its last breath, resting on a shield with the fleur-de-lis emblems of French royalty. Thorvaldsen made the terracotta and bronze models for the work, and the stone carving was made true to his design by a German sculptor.