Lion of Lucerne Plaque - Item #692

  8.25 Inches High x 10.75 Inches Wide x 1 Inches Deep A former Swiss Guardsman, Karl Pfyffer von Altishofen, convinced Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1818 to create a model for the controversial monument he desired to commission. The monument would memorialize the men of the Swiss Guard regiment who died protecting the French king Louis XVI’s palace known as the Tuileries during the French Revolution. Between then and the time of the commission, Switzerland had become independent of France. Creating a monument that was going to appear loyalist would be contentious, and so it was. From the monument’s conception through its dedication, it was both praised and criticized. Over the years, however, Switzerland has come to claim the monument as its own, as a monument to the Swiss people.Thorvaldsen created drawings and two maquettes based on Pfyffer von Altishofen’s idea of a lion. Although the patron wanted a dead lion surrounded by weapons and shields, Thorvaldsen countered with a li