This was without a doubt the #1 reason why we always wanted to visit Lucer - to see The Lion.
Some perhaps heard of it by the reference of "The Sleeping Lion (of Lucerne)." That is not true!!!
It's "The (mortally wounded ) Dying Lion" ...and it is incredibly moving to be standing there looking at this stupendous work of art, sculpture and the history behind the monument.
The monument (six by ten metres), with Latin inscriptions and situated in an expansive English garden, was ceremoniously unveiled in 1821. The massive lion was designed in Rome by one of the most famous sculptors of the day, Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen, and carved in the rock face of a former quarry by stonemason Lukas Ahorn from Constance. It commemorates the events
10 August 1792, when an angry hoard stormed the Tuileries Palace and killed hundreds of Swiss Guardsmen serving King Louis XVI. (Think- The start of the French Revolution )
Mark Twain (in his book "Innocents Abroad ") praised the sculpture of a mortally wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.
It's emotional looking at the Lion in your pictures. I can't even imagine the emotion seeing it in person. [Jeanine Belinger]
PengembaraThere is a smaller scale copy of it in Lititz so not far from you. But if course not nearly as good
PengembaraDidn't know the story behind the Lion. Now I'm depressed. Beautiful sculpture.
Pengembarac'est très triste 😞