This stunning monument is built to commemorate the Swiss Guard soldiers that were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. It is described as one of the most moving sculptures in the world by many people.
It was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820-21 by Lukas Ahorn. It took approximately a year to complete.
The American writer Mark Twain (1835-1910) praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as
“the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.“
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Tags: lion, Lion of Lucerne, Lucerne, Mark Twain, Switzerland, The Lion of Lucerne