Barye’s bronze symbolizes the lion of monarchy crushing the evil serpent and is the first sculpture installed in Rittenhouse Square.
The original Lion Fighter sits as a companion piece to August Kiss’s Mounted Amazon Attacked by a Panther on the steps of the Altes Museum in Berlin. Philadelphia’s cast was moved to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1929, where – as in Berlin – it accompanies a bronze cast of the Amazon.
Public art came to life in Rittenhouse Square with live animal sculpture-making workshops and demonstrations.
Learn more about the Association for Public Art unique history with aPA’s full timeline, which details more than 140 years of the organization’s work to commission, preserve, interpret, and promote public art in the city of Philadelphia.
A month-long series of photography workshops led by Philadelphia-based photographers for participants of all levels. See the city’s sculpture through a new lens!
“The Lioness” was exhibited in the French Salon of 1886 before its acquisition by the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art).
Of the many sculptures at the Philadelphia Zoo, The Dying Lioness is one of the best known. The model for the sculpture won first prize at the Vienna International Exhibition in 1873.
“Religious Liberty” was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, November 30, 1876, in Fairmount Park and later relocated by the B’nai B’rith in 1984 to a site near the National Museum of American Jewish History and the Liberty Bell.
The Mounted Amazon Attacked by a Panther was the work of German sculptor August Kiss. Caught in the midst of the attack, the figures convey the violence and emotional tension of the moment.
Each spring, our team conducts conservation maintenance for over 30 outdoor sculptures in Philadelphia and takes on special projects as needed.