
On Entrance Hill - San Antonio, TX
N 29° 27.751 W 098° 28.426
14R E 551025 N 3259345
A pride of lions rest while keeping watch over their territory inside the entrance of the San Antonio Zoological Gardens and Aquarium.
Waymark Code: WMGWJW
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/16/2013
Views: 4
Just inside the entrance to the San Antonio Zoo, a little to the left, is a large bronze sculpture of a family (pride) of lions posed as if the zoo was their territory and they were resting on home turf, observing those strange human creatures who keep passing through their homeland. There are seven lions made up of a female lioness resting on the outer edge of the group, with two young cubs on her flank. One of these cubs is looking westward, opposite of where all the other lions are gazing. The companion cub is in tune with the mother and is looking eastward., Two more cubs sit next to their mother head. They too are looking out eastward, toward the zoo entrance. The large male lion is standing on all fours, with one cub sitting between the father's large front paws. These lions are posed atop a large mound of limestone slabs arranged to represent an outcropping of a hill top.
In front of the mother lion at the bottom of the proper bronze base of the sculpture is the artist's name and the founders mark. The title given this sculpture by the artist is "On Entrance Hill. However, the title given to the sculpture at its dedication was "Family of Lions." The SIRIS listing gives attribution as "On Entrance Hill." The bronze across the top of the cubs and the mother lioness is rubbed smooth from children climbing onto the lions to be photographed by parents or friends.
The artist who sculpted these lions, Bob Guelich, is a local San Antonian and has major pieces of his art at the San Antonio Zoo as well as at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. He has sculpted pieces for the Kansas City Zoo and for the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. Many universities have his sculptors displayed on their campuses.
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