Mick and Mack, (sculpture).

Mick and Mack, (sculpture).

Unknown, sculptor.

Vacca, Flaminio, sculptor. (copy after)

Mick and Mack, (sculpture).

1800s. Dedicated 1904. Rededicated April 28, 1950.

Lions: concrete (?), painted; Bases: painted.

2 lions. Each lion: approx. H. 32 x W. 47 in.; Each base: approx. 3 1/2 x 16 x 43 in.

Two lions stand, flanking the entrance to a building, mouths open to reveal many teeth, turning in opposite directions from each other. The right lion turns its head to the proper left and rests its proper left paw on a ball. The left lion turns its head to the proper right and rests its proper right paw on a ball. The lions are mounted upon short, rectangular bases. Each lion and base are painted white.

Outdoor Sculpture -- Ohio -- Cincinnati

Architectural component

Administered by University of Cincinnati, Fine Arts Collection, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221

Located University of Cincinnati, McMicken Hall, main entrance, Cincinnati, Ohio

Gift of City of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 1904.

Formerly in the collection of Hoffner, Jacob, Hamilton Avenue near Blue Rock Avenue, Cumminsville, Ohio until 1894.

The lions originally were the property of Jacob Hoffner, a Cincinnati real estate mogul, who maintained a six-acre estate in Cumminsville, which he decorated with sculptures he brought back from his travels in Europe. The lions stood at the entrance to Hoffner's formal garden. They are copies of the pair that stand at the entrance to the Loggia dei Lanzi at the south side of the Piazza della Singoria in Florence. Of the two originals, one decorated the House of Medici in Rome; the other was made in 1600 by Roman sculptor Flaminio Vacca. When Hoffner died in 1894, he bequeathed his property to the City of Cincinnati, who subsequently gave the lions to the University of Cincinnati in 1904. They were placed them in front of McMicken Hall, and became known as Mick and Mack, nicknames taken from the building and its namesake, Charles McMicken.

In the 1940s, when the original hall was destroyed and a new one built, Mick and Mack were removed for a time, and returned to their posts after the completion of the new McMicken Hall, which was dedicated April 28, 1950. When originally installed in front of the old McMicken Hall, the lions faced each other, as do the pair in Florence; but later, the lions were reversed, and their heads now turn away from each other, in order that they can perform their duties as guards. The lions have become symbolic of University of Cincinnati student life and are often the victims of pranks. They are customarily doused with red paint by the opponents during the Miami University-University of Cincinnati football game each year. The tails of the lions are also frequently broken off; and the lions are periodically vandalized with graffiti and repainted. In 1971, one lion was broken into many pieces and restored.

IAS files contain related articles from two University of Cincinnati publications: Horizon 9 (Oct. 1979), pg. 29-30; and McMicken Magazine (Fall/Winter 1992), pg. 3-7. IAS files also contain a related article from The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 27, 1988.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Ohio, Cincinnati survey, 1992.

The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 27, 1988.

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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