Medici lions, marble. The model for these two large cats are the so-called Medici lions, two marble lions of ancient origin erected in 1598 at Villa Medici in Rome and later moved to the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence.

Two similar reproductions made of bronze stand on Lejonbacken below the northern facade of Stockholm Castle in Stockholm. They were created by the French sculptor Bernard Foucquet the Elder (1639–1731), active with sculptural works for Stockholm Castle during the years 1696–1706 and 1707–1711. Foucquet had the Medici lions as a model.

As early as 1692, similar lion statues appear at the castle depicted in Erik Dahlbergh’s
topographical work with copper engravings, Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna. The models for the lions were approved in 1700 by Charles XII, after which the bronze lion was cast in the foundry on Norrmalm in 1702 and 1704, respectively. They were then erected on Lejonbacken as a royal symbol of power. The bronze for the lions came from a well taken as booty at Kronborg Castle near Elsinore, during king Charles X Gustav’s campaign in Denmark.