Cleveland Museum of Art

Engaged Capital with a Lion and a Basilisk

Date: 1175–1200
Medium: marble
Culture: Northern Italy, Emilia (Bologna?), 12th century
Department: Medieval Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

The basilisk is an imaginary animal, half cock and half snake. According to medieval bestiaries, the basilisk could kill merely by its glance. It was commonly held as the symbol of the devil to be trodden down by Christ, first at the moment of his incarnation and then again during the Last Judgment. This capital depicts a struggle between the good lion and the evil basilisk, a legendary reptile from myth. While the artist would not have encountered the mythical serpent, it is likely he never saw a real lion either based on its cartoonish appearance in this sculpture.

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