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Lion of Gripsholm Castle

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The Lion of Gripsholm Castle is a notable example of bad taxidermy, in the museum of Gripsholm Castle, in Sweden. The lion is badly stuffed; and has a comically unrealistic face.[1]

In 1731, the Bey of Algiers presented King Frederick I of Sweden with a lion, one of the first lions in Scandinavia.[2] When alive, the lion was kept in a cage near Junibacken. When the lion died, it was stuffed and mounted; however, the taxidermist and the museum-keepers had never actually seen a lion before, and did not know how they were supposed to look.[3] As a result, the lion was anatomically inaccurate, with a notably poorly modeled face.

In the 21st century, the badly-stuffed lion has been widely mocked.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

References

  1. ^ "Hilariously Bad Lion Taxidermy". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Le lion empaillé de Gripsholm". La Boite Verte. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  3. ^ "The Greatest Castles in Sweden: Uncovering Magical Swedish Castles". Exploring Castles. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  4. ^ "Bad taxidermy: The lion at the castle of Gripsholm". Doobybrain. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  5. ^ "The lion of Gripsholm's castle". Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  6. ^ "The stuffed lion of Gripsholm's Castle". Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  7. ^ "18th Century Taxidermy Unkind to Noble Lion". Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  8. ^ "The Lion of Gripsholm Castle". Mentalfloss. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Lejonet på Gripsholms Slott". Facebook. Retrieved 9 March 2014.