Object of the Month – October
Object Of The Month
27th October 2025
Lion Statues
As the temperatures cool and the leaves change, it is lovely to spend time in the grounds at Bowood and experience the arrival of autumn it all its glory. For that reason, our October object of the month invites you to step outside and take a closer look at these four charming lion statues on the Lower Terrace.
Meet the Object
If you have spent time enjoying the Terrace Garden at Bowood, you may have come across a few different statues. These Lions recline on the Lower Terrace and were made from Bath stone by William Brewer in 1852. They were commissioned to sit on top of the gate pillars in front of Bowood’s Big House and followed the design of a pair of Lion statues made by Antonio Canova for the tomb of Pope Clement XIII in Rome.
Canova and the Pope’s Tomb
Antonio Canova (1757-1822) was one of the most important sculptors of his time. He worked in a neoclassical style, emulating statues of the ancient world, and became famous for how beautiful and real his work appeared, which seemed to be as if real skin rather than marble.
An Italian who showed early promise as an artist, he established his studio in Rome in 1781 after having travelled around Italy exploring art and sculpture in various collections and places. Eighteenth-century Italy was full of exciting new archaeological discoveries, large art collections and beautiful pieces of art: the perfect inspiration for a developing artist. His fame became such that his studio developed into a great tourist attraction.
Pope Clement XIII (1693-1769) was pope from 1758 until his death. Papal funerary monuments were huge and stunning works of art, incorporating many elements and commissioned from some of the biggest contemporary artists. Canova worked on the monument for Clement XIII from 1783 until 1792. It incorporated several elements as this engraving of it shows, with a pair of lions reclining on plinths on either side. Like many motifs in classical art, the reclining lion could hold multiple, sometimes simultaneous, meanings depending on its context – serving as a guardian, a symbol of power, a decorative element, or a combination of these.
Image: Raphael Morghen & Stephano Tofanelli, after Antonio Canova, The tomb of Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico in the Vatican, c.1790. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 49.116.78.
The decorative sculpted Lions at Bowood sat on top of the four pillars of the entrance and exit gates of the Big House from 1852 until the Big House was demolished in 1956.
Moved by the 8th Marquis of Lansdowne (1912-1999), the Lions now rest on plinths on the Lower Terrace, which was designed by George Kennedy in 1851, around the same time as the commissioning of the statues. They are surrounded by the yew trees, planted in 1900, which lean towards the sun. Their reclining poses communicate a sense of calm and rest, but their alert heads and implied potential for movement also convey a readiness to act.
Image: Bowood House c.1930