Add a review about the dying lion

About the monument "The Dying Lion" in Lucerne American writer Mark Twain expressed this: "This is the most tragic and moving stone in the world." To check whether this is really possible, you can go to Denkmalstraße, 4 - here in memory of soldiers of the Swiss Guards who died during the storming of the Tuileries palace, a statue of a dying lion is carved in a natural rock, today it is one of Lucerne's main attractions.

A bit of history

Swiss guardsmen were guarding the palace of the Tuileries, starting from the 17th century . It was there during the French revolution in 1792 that they were swept away by a mob that was heading to storm the royal chambers . More than 600 guardsmen were killed in an unequal grasping, and about a hundred, mostly high ranks, were executed on the guillotine later . In 1818, one of the officers of the Swiss Guard, who was absent during the bloody events in the country, began to raise funds for the erection of the monument, which was ordered by several years later to the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen .

"Dying Lion" Monument

What to see

A dying lion is carved in a rock sandstone. He is portrayed by a pierced spear, trying to cover a coat of arms with a lily image - a symbol of the French royal house. For the figure you can see another coat of arms - the Swiss. The inscription under the sculpture reads: "For the devotion and courage of the Swiss", and below the Latin figures the number of dead and survivors - 760 against 350 and the names of the officers of the Guards are stamped.

However, in this tragic entourage there was a place and sarcasm. When Thorvaldsen had already performed the lion's share of the work, he was informed that the fee would follow less than previously negotiated. In honor of the memory of the dead soldiers, the sculptor completed the monument, but did not miss the opportunity to express his personal attitude to the dishonesty of officials: if you look closely, the shape of the pig is clearly visible in the outline of the niche.

Coordinates

Address: Löwendenkmal, Denkmalstrasse 4

The head of an animal, The dying lion, Lucerne The dying lion
The head of an animal, The dying lion
The dying lion, Lucerne Dying lion
Dying lion