Probably Italian 13th century

In the menagerie of Romanesque and Gothic animals, lions appear in many guises. Stylobate lions that support columns on their backs are most frequently used in church portals, but also function as bases for columns on pulpits and baptismal fonts. Less often lions are used for both the feet and arms on Bishop’s thrones, known as cattedra. The fixing points on the top of the present marble lion indicate that it was most likely used in this more unusual way. A straight groove carved in the lion’s mane marks where the front of the chair would have fitted and the remains of an iron dowel shows where the back of the seat would have been secured.

André Grabar’s key 1954 article Trônes Épiscopaux du Xième Et Xiieme Siècle En Italie Méridionale focuses on five important thrones from southern Italy. The most extraordinary example is undoubtedly the throne of Bishop Elia in San Nicola at Bari with two slaves and a central figure (interpreted as as Muslim soldier) holding up the front of the seat and two lionesses devouring men at the back the throne, with two smaller lions supporting the front step.

The lions discussed by Grabar that form the main support for the Bishop’s throne in the Sanctuary of St Michael in Monte Sant’Angelo, or the fabulous elephants on the throne in the Cathedral of San Sabino at Canosa offer clearer examples of how the present lion would have originally functioned. A pendant lion would have supported the opposite side of the seat, which would have been raised on a decorative plinth to achieve the correct height. Another comparable throne with couchant lions, not discussed by Grabar, is in the cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore in Barletta (Ambrosi, op. cit., fig. 254).

All the above mentioned comparisons are located in southern Italy and all differ somewhat in style from the present lion. Some lions attributed to the Lazio region evince more affinities in the treatment of the lion’s snout, such as the smaller lions that support the pascal candlestick in the Cathedral of St Caesarius in Terracina, or the lions on the Bishop’s throne in the Cathedral of SS Paul and Peter in Ferentino. However, the closest stylistic comparison can be drawn with a stylobate lion from the central portal of St Andreas at Lienz in Austria. Here the ‘torpedo’ shaped head, broad flat lips, prominent canine teeth and the mane, handled in thick straight, parallel strands all reflect the carving in the present lion. In the absence of any firm provenance for the present lion, its association with Austrian Romaneseque carving necessitates further research. The Bishop’s throne in Augsburg Cathedral, which comprises two couchant lions as supports, demonstrates that there was a tradition of cattedra north of the alps from which the present lion may have originated.

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Grabar, ‘Trônes Épiscopaux du XIème et XIIème Siècle en Italie Méridionale’, in Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, 1954, vol. 16, pp. 7-52; A. Ambrosi, E. Cardamone et al, Die Figürliche Steinplastik des 11.-13. Jahrhunderts in Apulien, Bari, 1987

J. Poeschke, Die Skulptur des Mittelalters in Italien. Band 1 Romanik, Munich, 1998, pp. 99-105, 125-126

For the Lienz portal: https://www.bildindex.de/document/obj20183764?medium=fm727983.

For the Augsburg Bishop’s throne:

https://www.bildindex.de/document/obj20461265?medium=mi03411a04