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Sleeping (Recumbent) Lions

After Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757-1822)
Cast Iron
Ca. 1850-1860
L. 3’6”

The two lions in this pair truly complement each other. While not identical statues, they are similar in that one lion is resting and the other is sleeping. It is believed that this pair of lions was placed here when the house was completed in 1853. They were in place by the beginning of the Civil War.

The statues are copies of the famous Italian sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822). They were created in 1792 for the Monumental tomb of Pope Clement XIII in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

These lions appear in the 1858 Wood & Perot Catalogue as numbers H. and J.; and in the 1870 catalog of the same company [1]. Additionally, lions of this style appear in the 1873 New York City Directory in an engraving of the storefront of the Composite Iron Works Company (aka J. B. Wickersham). One of the sleeping lions appears in the ca. 1857 catalog of the same company [2]. Similar catalogs from the same period featured only one of the lions, such as the 1870 Janes, Kirtland & Company catalog, suggesting that occasionally only one lion was displayed.

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[1] Wood, Robert Wood & Co. Portfolio of original designs of ornamental iron work by Robert Wood & Co. (Philadelphia, Pa.) ca. 1867-70, Winterthur Museum Library internet archive https://archive.org/details/portfoliooforigi00robe.
[2] Gayle, Margot. Victorian Ironwork: A Catalogue by J. B. Wickersham, with a new introduction by Margot Gayle. Athenaeum Library of Nineteenth Century America, Philadelphia, 1977.

GPS ADDRESS

Belmont Blvd & Acklen Avenue 

Nashville, TN 37212

MAILING ADDRESS

1900 Belmont Blvd

Nashville, TN 37212

615-460-5459

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Intimate and elegant elopement ceremonies are popular at Belmont Mansion! Affordable Nashville Elopements start here!

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Photos by Ed Houk

The architecture of Belmont Mansion makes it one of the most significant homes of 19th century Tennessee.

Sold by the Acklen family in 1887, the house went to a developer who began one of Nashville’s early suburbs.

It was then purchased by two women who in 1890 started a college which evolved into Belmont University. Today the Belmont Mansion Association, which was formed in 1972, owns the collection, runs the museum, and shares this unique story of 19th century Nashville with visitors from far and near.

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About the Mansion

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