Pair of lions in gilded bronze from a cabinet - Venice End of 16th century

This pair of gilded bronzes represents two roaring lions ready to leap, mouths open, tongues out.
The extraordinary dynamism of the two felines owes much to the ornamental treatment of their rumps, which tend in their central part to turn into arabesques. These blend into the animal's coat, finely chiselled. This high-quality surface work gives naturalistic accents and expressiveness to these formidable representations.
Two holes still visible on the backs of the lions tell us about the function of these works, which were once supposed to support columns within an architectural cabinet. If these stylophore lions evoking the portals of great Italian cathedrals were widely distributed within pieces of furniture produced throughout Europe during the Renaissance, our two lions find a very particular echo within the Venetian production of the Cinquecento. This is evidenced in particular by a quiet similar pair of lions from the old Martini collection (Siena), attributed to a Venetian workshop active in the mid-16th century.