12th-13th Century Stone Lion Sculpture, Spanish Romanesque Period

Description

Title: A SPANISH ROMANESQUE STONE LION (12-13TH CENTURY).
MEASUREMENTS: height 12 in. x width 5.5 in. x 6.5 in. depth. … more Title: A SPANISH ROMANESQUE STONE LION (12-13TH CENTURY).
MEASUREMENTS: height 12 in. x width 5.5 in. x 6.5 in. depth.

Offered is a granite carved lion capital ornament; seated a top head of eagle between front legs, with head/beak bowed up, tail curled up at rear, losses to base at lower front & rear right side of base.

Note: Lions were the most common non-native animal crafted as a gargoyle in the medieval period. In ancient times, the lion was linked to the sun, most likely due to its golden mane bearing similarity to the solar wreath of the sun. Lion gargoyles were popular with the ancient Greeks and were frequently used on houses in Pompeii during Roman times. During the medieval period lions became the symbol of pride, one of the 7 deadly sins. Cats other than lions were rare among gargoyle carvings because of their dark nature and association with Satanism and Witchcraft.
Both lions and their female counterparts were a favorite choice for the makers of gargoyles. The lion was by far the most popular non-European animal to be used on churches and cathedrals in the middle ages. They were popular as gargoyles during older times (Pompeii is full of them) and they had symbolized the sun, with the golden mane representing the solar wreath of our life giving star.

Provenance: Italian-American family by descent. less