Adam's The Irish Library Wednesday 17th April 2019

32 41 A 19TH CENTURY PARIAN PORCELAIN FIGURE OF JOHN MILTON, resting on a pile of books, on an oval base. 31cm tall € 250 - 350 40 A CARVED WOODEN MODEL OF THE ‘LION OF LUCERNE’ AFTER THORVALDSON. 19cm wide x 10.5cm high x 8cm deep € 400 - 600 The Lion of Lucerne is a sorrowful monument of a dying lion, carved beautifully into the rock wall of an old sandstone quarry in Lucerne, Switzerland. Measuring ten metres long and six metres high, the animal proudly commemorates the Swiss Guards who died in 1792 defending the French Royal Family at the Tuileries Palace in Paris. Swiss Guards had been used by the French monarchy since the 17th century and were highly prized for their loyalty and unfailing dedication to their service. On 10th August 1792 over seven hun- dred guards were killed, with further deaths taking place during the September Massacres a month later. .DUO 3I\΍HU YRQ $OWLVKRIHQ DQ 2ɝFHU RI WKH *XDUGV ZKR KDS - pened to be on leave in Lucerne during the atrocities, took it upon himself to erect a monument in honour of his fallen comrades. In 1818, he began to raise the money and Bertel Thorvaldsen was granted the commission. Thorvaldsen was a Danish sculptor who was working in Rome at the time. Inspired by the grand classical ZRUNV DURXQG KLP KH GUHZ RQ WKH ȴJXUH RI WKH OLRQ WR UHSUHVHQW the strength and nobility of the Guards. With its head resting on a shield bearing the Fleur-de-Lis, an unmistakeable representation of the French Crown, even in death the lion protects the monar- chy. The lion was hewn into the rock by Lucas Ahorn, a German stone Mason, between 1820 and 1821 and lies there to this day, the sol- LWXGH RI KLV HWHUQDO VOXPEHU D VWDUN UHPLQGHU RI WKH VDFULȴFH PDGH