Christ or devil?: the contradictory symbolic duality of the lion image in the Daniel in the Lions'Den episody in the Romanesque sculpture

Authors

  • Juan Antonio Olañeta Molina Universidad de Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18172/brocar.2683

Keywords:

Lion, Daniel, iconography, Old Testament, symbolism, romanesque.

Abstract

Men have attributed several meanings to the lion’s figure, occasionally contradictory. It has been associated with the images of Christ and the Devil, to the concept of Death, yet also to Resurrection. It is in the Romanesque period when the symbolic versatility of the episode of Daniel in the Lions’ Den attains its highest level of development since, departing from the unique relationship between signifier and signified, paradoxically the lion assumes an ambivalent and contradictory meaning, representing at the same time Christ and the Devil. The present study explores this ambivalent and simultaneous interpretation, which can be explained since the typological reading of the Scriptures.

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Published

2014-12-17

How to Cite

Olañeta Molina, J. A. (2014). Christ or devil?: the contradictory symbolic duality of the lion image in the Daniel in the Lions’Den episody in the Romanesque sculpture. Brocar. Cuadernos De Investigación Histórica, (38), 65–81. https://doi.org/10.18172/brocar.2683

Issue

No. 38 (2014): Arte y Patrimonio: Idea, Técnica y Estética

Section

Articles

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