Canova Lions, (sculpture).

Canova Lions, (sculpture).

Canova, Antonio, 1757-1822, sculptor. (copy after)

Unknown (Rome, Italy), founder.

Canova Lions, (sculpture).

Lion Asleep, (sculpture).

Lion Awake, (sculpture).

Original marble 1792. Cast ca. 1860. Relocated spring 1888. Relocated 1897.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: marble.

2 lions. Each lion: approx. 43 x 31 1/2 x 90 1/2 feet; Each base: approx. 10 3/4 x 27 3/4 x 81 1/2 in.

Two reclining lions which flank the entrance to the Corcoran Gallery of Art. The lions are similar, but one is awake and one is asleep. The lion face each other and both have long curly manes and large strong bodies.

Outdoor Sculpture -- District of Columbia -- Washington

Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th Street, N.W., Entrance, Washington, District of Columbia 20006 Accession Number: 88.10.1 and 88.10.2

Formerly located Corcoran Gallery of Art, 17th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia 1888-1897.

Holladay, Benjamin, 1311 K Street, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia ca. 1860-1888.

The two lions are bronze casts made from molds of the original marble lions which Canova created in 1792 for the Pope Clement XII cenotaph in Rome. The bronze casts were purchased in Rome by wealthy businessman, Benjamin Holladay in 1860 for $6,000. He installed them on the front steps of his Washington home at 1311 K Street, N.W. (later razed) and they remained there until Holladay's death. They were then auctioned with the rest of the estate in 1888 by Thomas Dowing, a Washington Auctioneer. The Corcoran Gallery of Art purchased the lions for $1,900 and in the spring of 1888, installed them at the entrance to the museum on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventeenth Street, N.W. (now the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum). The lions remained there until 1897 when the museum moved to its new location at Seventeenth Street and New York Avenue, N.W. At the new site, they were placed on marble bases on either side of the entrance. The image in the Goode publication is of the sleeping lion only. IAS files contain a transcription of an article on the lions from the Corcoran Art Journal (November 1893): pg. 7 and a copy of the museum's cataloging sheet for the lions. IAS files also contain a related article from the Sunday Star (District of Columbia), May 21, 1939(?) which includes a image of one of the lions.

Smithsonian Institution Research Expeditions Volunteer Project, 1991.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 464.

Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. M-21.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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