Lion Passant in the Cloisters, Sept. 2007

Lion from a Frieze, after 1200
Spanish; Made in San Pedro de Arlanza, Castile-León
Fresco, mounted on canvas; 7 x 11 ft. (226.1 x 335.3 cm)
The Cloisters Collection, 1931 (31.38.1a)

This wall painting and its companion, which depicts a dragon, are closely related to a cycle of frescoes at Sigena (Huesca), thought to be by an English painter from Winchester. Notwithstanding attempts to find symbolic significance in these beasts, contemporary texts state that "images of animal, birds, serpents and other things are for adornment and beauty only."

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/the_cl...