Clever Magazine, Vol III,#11 "Paris Lions" (www.clevermag.com)

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Paris is surrounded by lions!

Are there lions in Paris?
by the Phantom

I found lions everywhere in Paris, but they were especially prolific around museums and public squares. They were usually standing guard, as if ready to strike.

Musee d'Orsay lion

There are lions standing guard inside the d'Orsay Museum. After all, there's lots of great art to protect. We spent hours here looking at the Impressionists and other wonderful pieces. I just couldn't resist trying to get a photo of this magnificent lion.

Note to amateur photographers: Taking photos is allowed in French museums, as long as you don't use flash. I was using a small low-light digital with mixed results.

Here's a winged lion inside the d'Orsay Museum.
As you can plainly see, there's a nude person riding the lion
and, I can't quite remember, but those might be books
under its paw. This is one very busy lion.

Louvre Lion

This is the most unusual lion I've ever seen. He's resting, legless, in the Louvre. This museum is filled with sculpture, much of it with pieces missing. I was giggling to myself when I found a whole roomful of sculptures with missing heads. I couldn't help being reminded of that fateful time during the French Revolution.

The most famous sculpture with missing pieces is, of course, the Venus de Milo, which I ran into accidentally. I was loping through the museum, having left my companions, who had all visited the Louvre before. They were off to visit old friends and talk about their previous trips to this very special place. Since this was my first visit, I wanted to explore it on my own. It's truly a wondrous place, filled with the world's treasures and it's a real adventure to explore it on your own.

It's easy to get lost but that doesn't really matter because there are interesting things to see no matter where you are in the museum. I found the Mona Lisa the same way I found de Milo, by accident while looking for something else.

Louvre artist at work

In one brightly lit gallery in the Louvre (don't ask me where), I came onto a group of painters who were copying the paintings. I guess this sort of thing has been going on for ages. Painters actually get commissions for making original copies (was that an oxymoron?) of famous or less than famous works of art. I guess there's a market for everything.

I didn't take photos of all the lions I saw in Paris. They were everywhere, as usual. In fact, Paris is a bit overwhelming, especially with only a few days to visit. But I highly recommend it to all of you who have been meaning to go ever since that high school French class.

Clever Magazine has been investigating lion statues for years. If you're interested,
here's the list of articles on the subject so far:

The Investigation begins ~ a San Francisco lion, Italian lions
Lion Symbolism ~ Venice lions
More Lions ~ US lions, postcard lions
The Investigation continues ~ reader responses
The Lion of Lucerne ~ the Swiss lion
Lions in Paris ~ Paris photo essay
Even more on Lions ~ a reader response
Miscellaneous Lions ~ continuing the investigation
More Paris Lions ~ further contributions to our growing lion statue archive
Scott Beavin's Lion Photos ~ photos of Firenze
Confederate Memorial Lion ~ a memorial to Confederate soldiers
More lions ~ info about Belfort Lion and a few more photos
Timmie's Lion Obsession, a photo essay

If you have any lion photos or information to share, we'd love to hear from you.
Contact editor@clevermag.com

For more information on Chinese Lion Statues, check out Greg Pringle's website

We heard from Maarten from The Netherlands, who photographs lion statues for his website, which is called Shooting Safari: Lions. Check it out!