Medici Marble Lion

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One of a pair of copies of the Carrara marble Medici lions, these lions guard the bridge that connects St. Augustine, Florida to Anastasia Island along historic A1A in Florida. The lions were made by Romanelli Studios in Florence, Italy. Other copies of these lions include the famous ones displayed in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Madrid. The Bridge of Lions is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) fragile, added to the 1997 “11 Most Endangered Sites” list.

The Medici lion statues were copies of the statues at Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, Italy, and were gifted to the town by resident, Dr. Andrew Anderson, who also built and lived at the National Register historic mansion, Markland House, now owned by Flagler College. In the later years of Anderson’s life, he installed a number of works of art in public places. The lions were his last artwork gift to St. Augustine, and he had smaller versions made for his home.