Lion Monument

TheLion Monument(German:Löwendenkmal), or theLion of Lucerne,is arock reliefinLucerne,Switzerland,designed byBertel Thorvaldsenand hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates theSwiss Guardswhowere killed in 1792during theFrench Revolution,when revolutionaries stormed theTuileries PalaceinParis.It is one of the most famous monuments in Switzerland, visited annually by about 1.4 million tourists.In 2006, it was placed under Swiss monument protection.

Lion Monument

Löwendenkmal
47°03′30″N8°18′38″E
Location	Lucerne,Switzerland
Designer	Bertel Thorvaldsen
Type	Memorial
Material	Sandstone
Beginning date	1820
Completion date	1821

American authorMark Twainpraised the sculpture of a mortally woundedlionas "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world."

Background

Main article:Swiss Guards

Further information:Insurrection of 10 August 1792

From the early 17th century, aregimentofSwiss Guardshad served as part of theRoyal Householdof France. On 6 October 1789, KingLouis XVIhad been forced to move with his family from thePalace of Versaillesto theTuileries Palacein Paris. In June 1791 he tried toflee to Montmédynear the frontier, where troops under royalist officers were concentrated. In the10th of August Insurrection (1792),revolutionaries stormed the palace. Fighting broke out after the Royal Family had been escorted from the Tuileries to take refuge with theLegislative Assembly.The Swiss Guards ran low on ammunition and were overwhelmed by superior numbers. A note written by the King, half an hour after firing had commenced, has survived, ordering the Swiss to retire and return to their barracks.Delivered in the middle of the fighting, this was only acted on after their position had become untenable.

Run on the Tuileries on 10. Aug. 1792 during the French Revolution,Jacques Bertaux 1793

Around 760 of the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries were killed during the fightingor massacred after surrender.This number is possibly too high, according to late 20th-century research.An estimated two hundred more died in prison of their wounds or were killed during theSeptember Massacresthat followed.Apart from about a hundred Swiss who escaped from the Tuileries, the only survivors of the regiment were a 300 strong detachment which had been sent to Normandy (under the king's orders) to escort grain convoys a few days before August 10.The Swiss officers were mostly amongst those massacred, although MajorKarl Josef von Bachmann— in command at the Tuileries — was formally tried andguillotinedin September, still wearing his red uniform of the Guard. Two surviving Swiss officers achieved senior rank underNapoleon.

Among the Swiss Guards in France who survived the insurrection and soldiers from the eleven disbanded Swisslineregiments, about 350 later joined theRevolutionary Armiesof theFrench Republic,while others joined thecounter-revolutionariesin theWar in the Vendée.In 1817, theSwiss Federal Dietawarded the commemorative medalTreue und Ehre(Loyalty and Honor) to 389 of the survivors of the regiment.

Memorial

KarlPfyffer von Altishofen,an officer of the Guards who had been on leave in Lucerne at the time of the August fight, later wrote a book detailing the regiment of Swiss Guards during the French Revolution. This book created a strong reaction throughout conservative circles in Switzerland, which motivated him to organize a public subscription to finance a commemorative monument. He began collecting money in 1818, primarily from European Royal houses.He commissionedDanishsculptorBertel Thorvaldsento design the image, and contractedstonemasonLukas Ahorn to fashion the monument in a formersandstonequarrynear Lucerne.

The monument is dedicatedHelvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti( "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss" ). Carved into the cliff face, the monument measures ten metres in length and six metres in height. The dying lion is portrayed impaled by aspear,covering ashieldbearing thefleur-de-lisof theFrench monarchy;beside him is another shield bearing thecoat of arms of Switzerland.The inscription below the sculpture lists the names of the officers and gives the approximate numbers of soldiers who died (DCCLX = 760), and survived (CCCL = 350).The work was completed in 1821.

• 
  Thefleur-de-lisof theHouse of Bourbon
• 
  Coat of arms of Switzerland.
• 
• 
  TheLion Monumentin 2022

Political controversy

Even before the monument was built it was controversial for its political message glorifying theancien régime.It immediately elicited a combination of praise, national pride, and public criticism, with some displeased that a monument was built to honor Swiss citizens dying for a foreign monarchy. Swiss liberals felt that the personification of Switzerland as a lion seemed to glorify a conservative, counter-revolutionary mindset, and some even threatened to saw off one of the lion's paws in protest.

Reception

In 1880, Mark Twain wrote of the monument:

The Lion lies in his lair in the perpendicular face of a low cliff—for he is carved from theliving rockof the cliff. His size iscolossal,his attitude is noble. His head is bowed, the broken spear is sticking in his shoulder, his protecting paw rests upon the lilies of France. Vines hang down the cliff and wave in the wind, and a clear stream trickles from above and empties into a pond at the base, and in the smooth surface of the pond the lion is mirrored, among the water-lilies. Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion—and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.

— Mark Twain,A Tramp Abroad(1880)

References in literature and culture

Lion Monument

• The monument is described byThomas CarlyleinThe French Revolution: A History(1837).
• InTheChalet SchoolDoes It Again(1955),Elinor Brent-Dyerdescribes the monument, its history and the associated chapel.
• InThe Lions of Lucerne(2002) authorBrad Thordescribes the monument and theSwiss Guardthat it commemorates.
• In herNew Yorkertribute "My Buddy" (2017),Patti Smith,while standing in front of the monument, reflects upon the death ofSam Shepard.
• Although sculptor T. M. Brady denied it, his large marble sculptureThe Lionwas a near-identical copy of the Lucerne Lion.It was installed in theOakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgiain 1894 to honor fallen soldiers of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. That monument became a target of anti-racist sentiment in the 21st century, and was removed from the cemetery on 7 August 2021.

See also

• List of colossal sculptures in situ

External links

• Lion Monument,Lucerne,All About Switzerlandtravelguide. Retrieved on 2008-08-08.
• Dying Lion (The Lucerne Lion),The Thorvaldsen's Museum archives.Retrieved on 04-08-2017.
• Infopoints in the park of theLion Monumentin Lucerne.