The Great Lion

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Created during the Eighty Years’ War, De Gheyn’s Great Lion blends political allegory with naturalistic observation. The lion symbolizes the Dutch Republic’s bravery in its fight for independence from Spain, while the Latin inscription praises the lion’s—and by extension, the young Dutch Republic’s—vigilance and courage. De Gheyn, who also served in a local militia and produced an important military manual for the Dutch stadtholder, depicts the scene with detailed accuracy, from the texture of the lion’s fur to the carefully observed skull, which may reflect his attendance at dissections at Leiden’s anatomy theater. In preparation for creating this engraving, the artist observed and sketched an actual lion, likely one brought to the Netherlands by the Dutch East India Company and exhibited in a menagerie or zoo in The Hague.