Gezicht op het monument de Leeuw van Luzern 1820 - 1850

Franz Hegi created this print of the Lion Monument of Lucerne, sometime in the first half of the 19th century. It presents a famous public sculpture, carved into a sandstone cliff face in Switzerland, as a tourist attraction. The monument commemorates the Swiss Guards who were killed during the French Revolution. Hegi’s print reproduces the scene with picturesque framing vegetation, and foreground figures who are presumably well-to-do tourists. The print subtly reinforces the social and political values of the monument itself – a tribute to the fallen soldiers who died protecting the French monarchy. It presents this as something worthy of our admiration. To understand the imagery better, we might want to consider the artist’s biography, and the histories of both the Swiss Guards and the French Revolution. Consideration needs to be given to the institution of the art market, and the tastes of buyers who purchased such images. It is through such social and institutional contexts that the meaning of art becomes clear.