Skip to product information
1 of 3

Medieval Lion Pin

Medieval Lion Pin

Regular price €12.50 EUR
Regular price Sale price €12.50 EUR
Save €-12.50 Sold out
Tax included.

This pin combines some of Martha Hegarty's favourite features of various lions from medieval bestiaries. Bestiaries were illustrated manuscripts that described the characteristics of beasts, lions being one of the most popular depictions as emblems of power and royalty. It’s easy to attribute their look to bad execution but the truth is a lot more interesting. 

Medieval art was governed by compositional devices - predetermined geometric schemes and design motifs that artists would copy and repeat as signifiers of different virtues. Artists were less invested in expressing their own perspective or literal proportions than they were in depicting animals as reflections of human behaviour or divine will. 

This lion has the repeated flat patterns, heavily modelled face and little tongue typical of bestiary drawings, along with the squat body and curly hair that signified timidity. It’s interesting to see the strangeness o lions as artistic decisions specific to their era that have dated to the extent that they now look delightfully weird to modern eyes.

 

  • Soft enamel pin

  • 3 colours with black plating

  • 2 rubber clutches

  • Guaranteed good time

 

Artist: Martha Hegarty

Size: 3.5 x 4.4 cm

Brand: Mink

View full details