Generously sponsored by Amy Harmon.

Long attributed to Michele Giambono—a Venetian painter influenced by Gentile da Fabriano and a key figure of the International Gothic style in the Lagoon—this beautiful Lion of Saint Mark is now more convincingly recognized as the work of Paolo Veneziano. Paolo was the most prominent Venetian artist of the 14th century and is in fact celebrated as the founder of the Venetian school of painting. Among his masterpieces are the Pala Feriale (weekday altarpiece), commissioned by Doge Andrea Dandolo to cover the renowned Pala d’Oro in the Basilica of San Marco, and the Santa Chiara Polyptych, now housed in the Gallerie dell’Accademia but originally painted for the Franciscan convent of Santa Chiara in Venice (restored by Save Venice).

This Lion of Saint Mark is believed to be a fragment of a larger composition. At an unknown point in its history, it was cut down to a square format and repurposed as an easel painting, eventually entering the Correr Museum’s collection in the late 19th century. The lion is portrayed in moleca—a traditional Venetian form in which the wings curl like crab claws and the body rises from the water. Widely used in the iconography of State to represent Saint Mark, Venice’s holy patron saint, this motif is here rendered with unusual vigor and emotional intensity. The lion’s head, seen in profile, snaps dramatically toward the viewer, its eyes wide and piercing, while a sinuous tongue flicks from its half-open jaws. A dense, lifelike mane flows down the neck and chest, merging into the soft fur that lines the belly and limbs. Its long wings suggest elegant muffs draped along its sides. With velvet-like paws, the lion firmly clasps the sealed book of the Gospel, completing the image with a quiet but powerful sense of authority.

The Correr lion originally carried no political significance; rather, it served as a symbol of the Evangelist Mark. Alongside the other three traditional symbols—the ox of Saint Luke, the eagle of Saint John, and the angel of Saint Matthew—it would have been positioned around a processional cross. A surviving example of this arrangement can be seen in the Dominican church of Dubrovnik, Croatia, where a striking crucifix by Paolo Veneziano adorns the arch of the chancel. Encircling the figure of Christ on the lobes of the cross are the symbols of the four Evangelists, while on either side—on two separate panels—stand the sorrowful figures of the Virgin and Saint John. A closer look at the left panel, which features the lion of Saint Mark, reveals it to be a near replica of the Correr panel. Subtle but significant differences—such as the reversed color scheme of the wings, the more withdrawn placement of the paw resting on the Gospel, and the comparable painterly finesse—suggest not just the hand of the workshop but the direct intervention of the master himself.

Last restored in 1952, this panel painting suffers from numerous condition issues. The support is marked by two horizontal cracks, partially caused by the crossbars screwed onto the back. On the front, along the edges, there are later pictorial integrations to both the gilded and painted areas, likely carried out at the time of the cropping. Extensive retouching is visible, covering losses of the original paint layer and possibly dating to the last restoration. The original polychromy is heavily abraded, with only minimal traces of the gold finish on the lion’s wings remaining, and is obscured by layers of discolored varnish and coherent dirt deposits.

Paolo Veneziano (c. 1300 – c. 1362) [attr.]
Lion of Saint Mark
late 1350s, tempera on panel
35,3 x 37,7 cm

Guarnieri, Cristina. Per la restituzione di due croci perdute di Paolo Veneziano: il leone marciano del Museo Correr e i dolenti della Galleria Sabauda, in Toniolo, Federica and Giovanna Valenzano (eds.). Medioevo Adriatico. Circolazione di modelli, opere, maestri. Rome: Viella, 2010, pp. 133-158. Link to the article

Rizzi, Alberto. I leoni di San Marco. Il simbolo della Repubblica Veneta nella scultura e nella pittura, vol. I. Venice: Cierre Edizioni, 2001

Romanelli, Giandomenico. Museo Correr. Milan: Electa 1984