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2d ago

Study Traces Venice’s Winged Lion to Tang-Era China

New isotope analysis points to Chinese copper, reframing the monument as a reworked tomb guardian.

© Abxbay, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Millions of people walk under the statue in central Venice every year
Image
The column in the Piazzetta di San Marco with a sculpture of the Lion of Venice on top of it, in Venice, Italy.

Overview

  • A peer-reviewed study in Antiquity reports that lead isotope signatures link the statue’s copper to the Lower Yangzi basin in China.
  • Researchers analyzed metal samples taken during a 1990 restoration to determine the ore’s provenance.
  • Visual evidence indicates the figure was modified for Venice, with horns removed, ears shortened, and wings altered to resemble the city’s emblem.
  • The form aligns with Tang dynasty zhènmùshòu tomb guardians, suggesting the piece predates its Venetian adaptation by several centuries.
  • A proposed journey via the Polo brothers and Kublai Khan’s court is presented as a plausible scenario, though the statue’s route and reworking timeline remain unproven; the earliest record in Venice dates to 1293.