The Iconography of the Lion of Judah in Western European Art of the 12th–15th Centuries — Written and Visual Sources

This work aims to identify the characteristic features of the iconography of the Lion of Judah and explain the development of these features based on the images created in Western Europe between 1100 and 1500. Тo achieve this, the following objectives have to be accomplished: 1. to investigate the image of the Lion in written sources; 2. to analyze illustrative material to identify the characteristic features; contexts in which the image of the Lion is used; meaning of the Lion in these contexts; 3. to explain the development of the identified features. Results of the work are as following: There are two main contexts in which the image of the Lion is used and three varying iconographical types for each of these contexts. Also, some influences of written and visual sources have been identified. Context 1: Apocalypse illustration cycle. Types: inspired by Victorinus of Pettau’s Commentary on Revelation; part of an illustration to word-by-word commentary; ad verbum. Context 2: commentary on the New Testament. Types: part of a narrative; apocalyptic prediction; typological. Images of Madonna and Child accompanied by the Lion form a separate iconographical type. Development of the type may or may not be influenced by the images in Liber Floridus.