Describe the characteristics of the Creation in this artwork's Statue.
The medieval chronicler Abbot Albert of Stade mentioned "1166" as the year of origin. Nevertheless, according to recent research, the monument was created between 1164 and 1176, at the time when the Welf duke Henry the Lion (1129/31–1195), ruler of both Saxony and Bavaria, took his residence at Braunschweig. Newly-married with the English princess Matilda, he had Dankwarderode Castle built in the style of a Kaiserpfalz, rivalling with the nearby Imperial Palace of Goslar. The lion statue was erected in the centre of the castle complex as seigniorial symbol of his ducal authority and jurisdiction, probably also as an expression of Henry's claim to power towards the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
The Brunswick Lion was the first large detached sculpture of the Middle Ages north of the Alps and the first large hollow casting of a figure since antiquity. The bronze casting by an unknown artist, probably from Brunswick, weighs 880 kilogrammes, has a height of 1.78 metres (5.8 ft), a length of 2.79 m (9.2 ft) and a maximum thickness of 12 millimetres. The sculpture was originally gilded.
The Lion's design apparently is modelled on Italian art of sculpture, such as the Capitoline Wolf, the Lion of Saint Mark, or the ancient Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius. Henry may have been inspired during the Italian campaigns he undertook together with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The elaborate artistic achievement and naturalistic design of the sculpture indicate the work of a versed goldsmith or bell founder.
English Henry the Lion Frederick Barbarossa antiquity Albert of Stade Bavaria Braunschweig Middle Ages Italian bell founder Lion of Saint Mark Saxony Welf Hohenstaufen Goslar medieval Capitoline Wolf goldsmith Brunswick Dankwarderode Castle sculpture Matilda Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius Imperial Palace of Goslar Kaiserpfalz