Photographs Thread

[reilli]

Cool building somewhere in FL.

[Popster]

...................blue hole in the ocean off Belize

   

[Linville]

Nice .

Thanks.

[willie33]

[Popster]

That's impressive!!!

Check out the windows.

[Linville]

the carved lion and the Rose look really nice.

That carved Lion is really eye catching , do you know where that is, by chance , anyone?

Great thread !

Love it and I need to get back and posting in it.

Ahhh Pop's good eye, the windows. 

[willie33]

Lion Monument, Lucerne

The Lion Monument in Lucerne is a giant dying lion carved out of a wall of sandstone rock above a pond at the east end of the medieval town. It was designed as a memorial for the mercenary soldiers from central Switzerland who lost their lives while serving the French king Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

When the revolutionary masses attacked the royal Tuileries castle in Paris on August 10, 1792 the Swiss mercenary troops tried to defend the royal family and make sure the royals could escape.

Translation of the inscription on the Lion Monument

The latin inscription HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI means "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss". (To understand HELVETIORUM [=of the Swiss] see: Confoederatio Helvetica vs. Switzerland)
Furthermore you'll find the engraved names of the dead and of the saved officers of the Swiss guard as well as the death toll among the Swiss soldiers (DCCLX = 760) and the number of surviving soldiers (CCCL = 350).

What is the meaning of the Lion Monument?

An officer of the Swiss guards, second lieutenant Carl Pfyffer von Altishofen, a descendant from an influential patrician family, happened to be on home leave in Lucerne when his fellow soldiers were killed in Paris. After the times of revolution were over in 1815 and France as well as Switzerland had returned to conservative regimes, Pfyffer felt obliged to erect a memorial to honor the mercenary soldiers.

The Lion Monument was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1884), a classicist Danish sculptor in 1819 while he stayed in Rome, Italy.

Lucas Ahorn (1789-1856), a stone-mason from Constance (southern Germany) actually carved it out of the sandstone rock in 1820/1821.

The giant sculpture is 6 m [20 ft] high and 10 m [33 ft] long. The upright wall of rock is the remains of a quarry exploited over centuries to build the town.

Liberal politicians from all over Switzerland dissapproved of the memorial, but they were in a minority position during the 1820's and Pfyffer was backed by a majority in Lucerne.

The Lion Monument was inaugurated on August 10, 1821. Originally the site was private property. In 1882 the city of Lucerne bought it. The site is accessible without an entrance fee. The monument soon became one of Lucerne's major tourist attractions.

Mark Twain, well known American author, called the Lion Monument «the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world».

[Orange rabbit]

The lion carving is so beautiful. I would love to actually go see it in person.
OR

[Linville]

Thank you so much willie33.  

That was so nice of you to give this info on the Lion pic ! 

I really wondered where it was.

So very interesting.

Thanks again willie. 

[willie33]

You're welcome, Linville.

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