Lion of Bienservida

The Lion of Bienservida (also Lion of Villarrodrigo) is an ancient sculpture depicting a lion and a human head put on a plinth. It is exhibited at the Albacete Provincial Museum.

Lion of Bienservida
Spanish: León de Bienservida
Year4th–1st century BC
MediumSandstone
Dimensions(0.98 x 0.81 x 0.31) m[1]
LocationAlbacete Provincial Museum, Albacete, Spain

The piece was found in 1893 in the rural estate of Huertas de Bayona, in Villarrodrigo, in the Spanish province of Jaén.[2] It was gifted to the Museum of Albacete in 1932.[3][n. 1]

It was dated by Teresa Chapa at the late 4th century BC.[4] However, despite the rough carving, Carmen Aranegui Gascó sees no reason to classify the sculpture as an Iberian (Pre-Roman) artifact, rather considering the lion as art from the Roman republican period.[1] The lion is depicted sheltering a human head (bearded and with moustache) within the claws.[5] Chapa interprets the sculpture in the usual vein of the animal protecting the dead one while at the same time carrying their soul.[4]

References
Notes
  1. It is popularly as Lion of Bienservida because the private owners who donated the piece were from Bienservida (province of Albacete), also close to the finding place, not far from the border between the provinces of Albacete and Jaén.
Citations
  1. Aranegui Gascó 2005, p. 5.
  2. Noguera Celdrán 2013, p. 134.
  3. Noguera Celdrán 2013, p. 135.
  4. Ruiz Bremón 1984, p. 8.
  5. Ruiz Bremón 1984, p. 5.
Bibliography
  • Aranegui Gascó, Carmen (2005). "Leones funerarios romanos de época iberorromana. La serie asociada a cabezas humanas". Alicante: Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Noguera Celdrán, José Miguel; García Bueno, Carmen (2013). "Nuevo león hispanorromano procedente de Alhambra (Ciudad Real)" (PDF). Lvcentvm. University of Alicante. 32: 131–146. doi:10.14198/LVCENTVM2013.32.06.
  • Ruiz Bremón, Mónica (1984). "Notas sobre la iconografía del León de Bienservida" (PDF). Al-Basit: Revista de Estudios Albacetenses (13): 5–12. ISSN 0212-8632.
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