Venice’s winged lion was made in China! Researchers have now showed that it was most likely originally a tomb guardian cast during the Tang dynasty (618-907) using bronze from the lower Yangtze River basin in southeast China.
But the question of just how the 2.8-tonne statue made its way across continents to the top of a granite column in Italy sometime in the 13th century remains unanswered.
If the Lion of Venice statue was erected between 1172 and 1177, it predated publication of Marco Polo’s travels in 1300. Venice already traded and had relationship with China.
Truth depends on moral, sensibility and the records kept or destroyed.
Candidate for City Council in 2023
