Pair of Lions, Venice or Nuremberg 16th-17th century

Fine pair of gilt bronze lions. The holes in their backs suggest that they were a support of a table coin cabinet or a reliquary. Hollow castings in the lower part.

Similar to dragons, the lions backs are arched, their snouts brought upwards in a grimace of impatience, showing teeth and tongue. They repeat a classic medieval iconography of stylised lions with short paws and small round ears. The fleece is finely chiselled. Under the collar, on the animals’ chests, the grotesque mask are set between the two legs. There are also hints of wings at the front hocks while the whole body is decorated by spirals resembling the fleece, extremly decorative.

The sculptures can be compared to two lions in Lia Collection, La Spezia. They share the function, perhaps supports for a reliquary, and present very similar and accurate workmanship of the fleece and an expressive snout. La Spezia lions are attributed by Charles Avry to the Venetian school of the 16th century.

Our two specimens could be similarily attributed to Venetian production or, cautiously, to the North European area, in particular to the Nuremberg school with its imaginative goldsmithing.