Monday Miscellany

Readers Write . . .

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A contribution from Tobye, following on from the post about the American refugees to Canada:

Tobye comments:

O Canada-please take them!

That line about the accordion players name is priceless, but the whole piece is brilliant…kudos to Leo M.!

Enjoy the weekend! 

Regards, Tobye

Thanks Tobye

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From Sue P in respect of my comment that I was surprised at the lack of attention to the death of Leonard Cohen:

Thanks Otto 

ABC did a tribute last night that is on iView 

This is my favourite of his:
https://youtu.be/NGorjBVag0I

Dance me to the end of love

Thanks Sue

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From Robert C, in response to the item about the carved Lion of Lucerne:

Hi Otto,

I loved your Byte today on the Dying Lion of Lucerne.

I have been there a number of times and took my kids there in 2009. We were there in January and I thought you might like to see a photo of the pond frozen over with snow and ice around it.

I have a very close friend who is a native of Lucerne and still lives there and In addition to the info of your post she tells us that the sculpture was created also “ for the lion to be a protector of the city of Lucerne.” I am not sure how that works when the Lion is fatally wounded, but there you go!

Thanks again for all your bytes.

       Robert

Thanks Robert.

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Some additional Lion of Lucerne pics . . . 

An interesting story about the Lion of Lucerne: 

As sculptor Thorvaldsen was completing his sculpture, he was told that there would not be enough money to pay him in full. His contempt and disdain for those who had contracted the work is shown by his having reshaped the nook in which the dying lion rests into the shape of a pig.

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Some more carved lion monuments:

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The Lion of Atlanta:

The pose of the Lion of Lucerne was copied in 1894 by Thomas M. Brady (1849–1907) for his Lion of Atlanta in the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.

The sculpture was commissioned by The Ladies Memorial Association and was commemorated in 1894. The inspiration for the Lion of Atlanta was Bertil Thorvaldsen’s colossal Lion of Lucerne, which Mark Twain called “the most mournful and moving stone in the world.” 

The Lion of Atlanta depicts a proud, mortally wounded lion, lying down to signify defeat in battle. In his paw he holds a fallen Confederate battle flag.

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The Lion’s Mound:

The Battle of Waterloo, fought in what is now Belgium, in 1815, marked the final defeat of Napoleon. Nearly 200,000 men from seven nations took part in the action and, over the 9 hour duration of the battle, 65,000 men were either killed or wounded. Today the battlefield is mostly farmland now with a few memorials and monuments scattered throughout the area. The largest of these monuments is located in the centre of what was the battlefield and is called the Lion's Mound.

King William I of the Netherlands ordered its construction in 1820, and it was completed in 1826. It commemorates the location on the battlefield of Waterloo where a musket ball hit the shoulder of William II of the Netherlands (the Prince of Orange) and knocked him from his horse during the battle.

The lion is the heraldic beast on the personal coat of arms of the monarch of The Netherlands, and symbolizes courage. Its right front paw is upon a sphere, signifying global victory.

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The Lion of Judah:

The Lion of Judah has long been the symbol of the monarchy of Ethiopia. The Lion of Judah Monument was erected on the eve of Haile Selassie’s coronation in 1930, was then looted by Italians in 1935 and placed in Rome next to the massive Vittorio Emanuelle Monument and was returned to Addis Ababa in the 1960s.

The Lion of Judah Monument looted by the Italians

A further monument in Addis Ababa

(Tower crane in the background - see yesterday's Bytes).