Limestone Capital with Samson and an Attendant Fighting a Lion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2009

Limestone Capital with Samson and an Attendant Fighting a Lion
North Spanish, Palencia
Carved about 1175-1200

Accession # 21.21.2

This capital and the one to the left depict, in a simple, almost abstract manner, a man and an animal engaged in combat. The capitals must have supported a principal arch, perhaps the entrance to the choir of a church. Here Samson, with long hair, struggles with the lion, assisted by two men, one with a mace, another with a knife.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.