"A Large Size Gilt Bronze & Rouge Marble Clock, France, 19th Century" A Large Size Gilt Bronze & Rouge Marble Clock, France, 19th Century _______________________________________________________________ TheMedici lionsare a pair ofmarblesculpturesoflions: one of which isRoman, dating to the 2nd century AD, and the other a 16th-centurypendant. Both were by 1598placed at theVilla Medici,Rome. Since 1789 they have been displayed at theLoggia dei LanziinFlorence. The sculptures depict standing male lions with a sphere or ball under one paw, looking to the side. Copies of the Medici lions have been made and publicly installed in over 30 other locations, and smaller versions made in a variety of media;Medici lionhas become the term for the type. TheAlbani lion, a similar ancient sculpture, now at theLouvre A similar Roman lion sculpture, of the 1st century AD, is known as theAlbani lion, and is now in theLouvre. Here, the stone used for the ball is different from thebasaltbody. Both may derive from aHellenisticoriginal. A pair of lions were required byFerdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had acquired the Villa Medici in 1576, to serve as majesticornamentsfor the villa's garden staircase, the Loggia dei leoni. The first lion originates from a 2nd-centurymarblethat was first mentioned in 1594, by the sculptorFlaminio Vacca,by which time it was already in the collection of Ferdinando;Vacca reported that it had been found in thevia Prenestina, outsidePorta San Lorenzo. According to Vacca, the lion had been a relief, which was carved free of its background and reworked by "Giovanni Sciarano" orGiovanni di Scherano Fancelli, of whom little is now known. The second was made and signedby Vacca, also in marble, as apendantto the ancient sculpture at a date variously reported as between 1594 and 1598or between 1570 and 1590.The pair were in place at the Loggia dei Leoni in 1598The pendant was made from acapitalthat had come from theTemple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The Villa Medici was inherited by thehouse of Lorrainein 1737, and in 1787the lions were moved toFlorence, and since 1789they flank the steps to theLoggia dei Lanziat thePiazza della Signoria. The sculptures were replaced by copies at the Villa Medici whenNapoleonrelocated theFrench Academy in Rometo the villa in 1803.These copies were made by the French sculptorAugustin Pajou.