Medici Lion

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The Medici lions are two marble sculptures depicting standing male lions with one paw resting on a sphere or ball, gazing to the side. They were placed at Villa Medici in Rome by 1598 and have been displayed at Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence since 1789. The lions have been reproduced directly or with variations in numerous locations worldwide. A copy of Fancelli's ancient lion from Rome is also available on Scan the World, accompanied by its counterpart Vacca's lion. This reproduction was made in 1822 to adorn the entrance of Yelagin Palace. Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, commissioned a pair of lions for his villa's garden staircase, the Loggia dei leoni, after acquiring Villa Medici in 1576. The first lion originated from a 2nd-century marble mentioned by Flaminio Vacca in 1594, which was already part of Ferdinando's collection; Vacca reported it had been found on via Prenestina outside Porta San Lorenzo. According to Vacca, the lion had initially been a relief carved free from its background and reworked by Giovanni di Scherano Fancelli or Giovanni Sciarano.