Sculptural group Lion and Lioness

Sculptural group "Lion and Lioness" was developed by the French master Auguste Cahen in 1854. Like most outstanding sculptures of the time, "Lion and Lioness" were exhibited at the Paris Salon of Art on display were later sold to influential Odessa with hitherto unknown name.

Until 1920, this sculpture was privately owned and decorated manor areas rich merchants, cultural leaders and successful entrepreneurs. With the decree of 1927 on the improvement of urban parks of Odessa, all sculptural groups were nationalized and transferred from private collections in different parts of the city.

Sculptural group "Lion and Lioness" today

In the 2000s, held the first reconstruction of the "Lion and Lioness" at this point he pedestal significantly deteriorated and deformed, there have been changes in the forms of sculpture. The figures began to be distorted and become visible traces of bullets after World War II, and had to remove heavy raid. It arose as a consequence of years of environmental influences on the bronze. It is noteworthy that during the restoration revealed that the composition created from almost pure copper - its content is 99.7%, and the weight of the article is 1.5 tons.