16TH CENTURY FLORENTINE SCULPTOR
Pair of lions
marble, cm 61 height
Arrived to us in fragmentary conditions, these two fascinating sculptures depict two lions that likely used to stand on their front paws. The animals’ snouts are facing their side, and the big felines were meant to be placed opposite each other, probably guarding the entrance of an important building.
The exquisite craftsmanship of these marble artifacts, as can be seen in the differentiation between their expressions, in the efficacy of the result, in the splendid, almost pictorial, execution of their flowing manes, allow us to attribute these works to a greatly talented sculptor, active in the first half of the sixteenth century, most likely in Florence.
Since remote times, the ancient republic almost venerated this noble animal, choosing it as the symbol of the city under the name Marzocco.
