Rome...It's a bit of an animal!!

One of the things I most definitely noticed in Rome, was the vast amount of animal statues and decor about the place. I suppose it is true of most places, London, Paris, however I was fascinated by the array.

Of course my favourite is perhaps one of the most famous animal symbols in history, the she wolf.
There were many tombs embellished with animals.

I was particularly interested in the lions, which stood majestically about guarding their homes with pride.
There were plenty at the BorgueseGardens. I especially likes the roman faced ones and the beautifully majestic Winged Lions.

The Winged Lions of Italy Every city has its distinction; its mark on architecture. For Venice, Italy that mark of distinction is a winged lion. Why a lion when Venice is a maritime city? The symbol does seem an oxymoron but its roots lie deeply in history. The winged lion was at first St. Mark’s symbol but was later used as the Medici family’s way of showing the power of Venice. Legend tells us that in the Ninth Century some adventurous Venetian thieves stole the remains of St. Mark the Apostle from Egypt. They smuggled the body onto the ship by stuffing flowers and sow meat around the body so as to keep onlookers away. Soon they made it to the vessel and prepared for sail. No sooner than they had made it to the open water, a storm took hold. It was then that St. Mark “appeared” to the captain and warned him to strike the sails lest the ship crash on the rocks. They survived the storm and reached their intended destination. Local Venice religious authorities elected St. Mark as the patron saint of Venice and the winged lion (St. Mark’s traditional symbol) as the logo of the Venetian Republic. The winged lion is a symbol of peace and is seen in a multitude of other locales such as the Assyrian temple, the Gates of Xerxes at Perespolis, and the Winged lion of Babylon. Today tourists can see winged lions not only as a Venetian symbol of power and prestige, but as a part of the rich heritage and mystique of the city. (http://www.epinions.com/)

I was thinking, referring back to my photo idea, that I could quite easily make a book about the animals there. Hmmmm....brain cogs ticking

There are so many that I could honestly fill a volume with praise for the art and the history (if I did my research!)

These floor mosaics were in the Santa Maria Degli Angli. It is part of The Guadi Key. Which is a fascinating window set up to cast a line of light across the floor at certain times. i will go into more detail about the angel Church in my next blog...it is spellbinding!

A lot of the churches were adorned with doves, however I found this stag a quirky addition to a tomb. It makes you wonder why they chose specific animals and whether their family emblem included them, or whether their name translated as it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitoline_Wolf%22%3Ehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitoline_Wolf

http://www.romanhomes.com/your_roman_vacation/quarters/borghese-gardens.htm%22%3Ehttp://www.romanhomes.com/your_roman_vacation/quarters/borghese-gardens.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_degli_Angeli_e_dei_Martiri