search icon

Arts & Entertainment

Mane Event: Lions Are Back at Art Institute After Spa Vacation

Patty Wetli | July 19, 2022 3:13 pm

One of the Art Institute’s iconic lions receiving a “spa treatment.” (Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago)One of the Art Institute’s iconic lions receiving a “spa treatment.” (Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago)

They’re back.

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

After a month-long “spa vacation,” the Art Institute of Chicago’s famed lions returned to their posts Tuesday and are once again guarding the museum’s Michigan Avenue entrance.

The bronze felines had been in the care of the Art Institute’s conservation partner, Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio, since mid-June for a routine cleaning and fresh coating of wax. They’re now “cleaner and greener than ever,” the Art Institute declared in a statement.

The lions have been a fixture of Chicago’s cityscape since their unveiling in 1894. Their sculptor, Edward Kemeys, described the north lion as “on the prowl” and the south lion as being “in an attitude of defiance.”

The pair’s removal back in June created quite the stir, especially when the lions were spotted strapped to a flatbed truck, cruising down I-290 en route to Conservation of Sculpture’s Forest Park facility.

Plenty of folks had fun imagining what could take the lions’ place.

But the lions themselves, courtesy of a spoof Twitter account, had the last laugh. 

Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 |  [email protected]

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

Tags: 
The Art Institute of Chicago

Sign up for our morning newsletter to get all of our stories delivered to your mailbox each weekday.