Dying Lioness - Philadelphia, PA - Lion Statues on Waymarking.com

You must walk past this large Lion Statue to uncover the secrets of the zoo, from ants to apes. Highlights include the Pachyderm House, the Rare Animal Conservation Center, Bear Country, the Reptile Exercise Yard (“Give me twenty push-ups, iguana!”), and, of course, Monkey Junction.

At first sight, this appears to be a nice family of lions; a mommy, daddy and baby. Thanks to the Smithsonian description, one realizes this is a sad depressing piece. The mommy lion has a arrow sticking out of her and she is about dead. How sad! The entire sculpture is on a base that looks like a crypt or one of those above ground vaults at a cemetery. The lions were sculpted by Wilhelm Wolff (1816-1887), using Royal Foundry. The lions were cast in 1875 and installed ca. 1877. The sculpture is approximately 69 x 48 x 48 1/2 in. and the base is approximately 43 x 56 1/2 x 53 1/2 in.

The following excerpts come from the Smithsonian inventory page for this sculpture. SOURCE

Inscription

"F.V. Miller fudit Munchen 1875 (Bronze base, proper left rear corner:) model v Bro Wolf(sic) Berlin (Base, circular plaque:) presented 1879 Fairmount Park Art Ass'n on 5 Founder's mark appears."

Description

"Sculpture shows a reclining lioness near death from an arrow, with the male lion and two cubs at her side. "

Remarks

"The model for this piece won a first prize at the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873. The first cast of "The Dying Lioness" was installed in Berlin in 1874 as part of the German Emperor's collection for his Imperial Garden. He gave the Fairmount Park Art Association permission to make a second cast. When it arrived in Philadelphia, it was exhibited outdoors at the 1876 Centennial. In 1993, a 24 inch high metal railing enclosed the sculpture in a planted area measuring 157 inch diameter."