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Engaged Capital with a Lion and a Basilisk
1175–1200
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
The basilisk is an imaginary animal, half cock and half snake. According to medieval bestiaries, the basilisk could kill merely by its glance. It was commonly held as the symbol of the devil to be trodden down by Christ, first at the moment of his incarnation and then again during the Last Judgment.
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Details
- Title: Engaged Capital with a Lion and a Basilisk
- Date Created: 1175–1200
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 30.2 x 33 x 29.3 cm (11 7/8 x 13 x 11 9/16 in.)
- Provenance: Juliana Armour Ferguson, Huntington, Long Island, New York, (Edward R. Lubin, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.20
- Medium: marble
- Inscriptions: BASILISC.
- Fun Fact: This capital depicts a struggle between the good lion and the evil basilisk, a legendary reptile from myth. While the artist would not have encountered the mythical serpent, it is likely he never saw a real lion either based on its cartoonish appearance in this sculpture.
- Department: Medieval Art
- Culture: Northern Italy, Emilia (Bologna?), 12th century
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: MED - Romanesque
- Accession Number: 1972.20
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