2nd Post - The cultural image of Panthera leo volatilis - London & Venice

If you cast your memory back to the first post, just look downwards if you can't remember, you may remember that Panthera leo volatilis is a symbol of peace. Yesterday I came across a picture of our winged lion with an open book (peace not war) on a sink in the Patrick Mavros Store, it was on La Chapelle sink, similar to this one.

There is a city, which is based on a hundred and seventeen islands in a marsh, called Venice, which uses Panthera leo volatilis in its municipal coat of arms

In Durant Imboden's website Venice for Visitors, we are told that the reason for the winged lion emblem in Venice is due, possibly, to a Ninth century legend. Several Chamber of Commerce types stole the remains of Saint Mark the Evangelist's body from his tomb in Alexandria, Egypt. During the crossing of the Mediterranean, a storm arose and a vision of St. Mark saved the crew and the ship. When the ship finally arrived in Venice's port, the religious and council officials adopted Saint Mark as their patron saint and his emblem, a winged lion.

According to Jan Morris, her description of Venice's feline population wasn't always limited to the domesticated species. Emblematic lions were painted, carved and supported architectural decorations, citizens even had lions in their gardens - one example is a where a lion died from gilt poisoning after licking the bars of his gold cage in the Piazza.

The linked picture shows workmen moving a Winged Lion, the symbol of the Venice Film Festival which is held in August each year.