Lions last lived wild in Europe thousands of years ago. Despite this, lions have been popular in European art from the Greeks and Egyptians, right through to the Middle Ages.
Once my sister pointed this out to me, I started taking pictures of the lions I saw. Here’s the best of what I got.
London
Lion at Southwark Cathedral
One of the lions that protects Westminster Bridge
British Museum
By the main entrance doors to the British Museum, this lion looks like it might once have been some sort of water fountain.
The Lion of Knidos, from an ancient cemetery in Turkey, now in the Great Court of the British Museum
King Amenhotep III as a lion (Egyptian Sculpture Gallery)
Assyrian Guard Lion, 9th century BC (it weighs 15 tons!)
Section of an Assyrian panel depicting a lion hunt, 9th century BC
Limestone statuette of a lion, 6th century BC, from a sanctuary of Aphrodite
Faience vases from Rhodes, late 6th century BC
Bronze lion from Macedonia, 510-500BC
Bronze figure of a lioness crouched to spring, Greek, 6th century BC
York
This lion can be found by the entrance gates to the Yorkshire Museum Gardens
This lion is from the top of a birch tankard from the Merchant Adventurers Hall, possibly from the Baltic.
This lion is from a 16th century fireplace surround at the Merchant Adventurers Hall.
A doorknocker on a random door in York
Another doorknocker on another random door in York
This lion decorated a grand tomb in one of Eboracum’s (Roman York) cemeteries
Another lion-themed doorknocker on a random door in York
Edinburgh
This lion is on a commemorative plaque from 1964, which is currently housed in The People’s Story, a museum in Edinburgh
Three of these lions sit at the base of a medieval pedestal at The National Museum of Scotland
The decorative end of a handrail for some steps on Calton Hill
Linlithgow
Look up when you walk through the gatehouse at Linlithgow Palace, and you will see this fearsome guy
Inside Linlithgow Palace, in the courtyard, is a 16 foot tall fountain built in 1538, and this goofy lion is part of the decorations.
