Object Literature
The adoption of Christianity in both Scandinavia and parts of Europe brings about a gradual transformation in the arts. Churches of lasting materials are built and decorated in styles sometimes derived from local pre-Christian traditions and sometimes borrowed from Romanesque, Gothic, or Byzantine work. In around 1580 when this piece was created, in Scandinavia in particular sculpted altarpieces were no longer in demand, and sculptors retooled their shops to execute architectural ornament and funerary monuments.
The northern parts of Europe have always been a perfect location for craftsmen working in wood. The soft woods, as used here, provided an inexhaustible source of raw material for the carpenter’s craft. There is a possibility this lion is Norwegian or Dutch but Germany seems the most likely place of origin.
Around the time this piece was crafted, Ivan the Terrible, tsar of Russia, was ordering massacres, whilst the British navigator Sir Francis Drake passed through Maluku on his circumnavigation of the world.
A rare survivor displaying a truly outstanding surface.