Androcles and the Lion

Unknown artist

The runaway slave Androcles became friends with a wounded lion, because he removed a thorn from its paw. When Androcles was captured and thrown to the lions, he again encountered the grateful beast, which then saved his life. The sandstone from which this sculpture is made was mined in quarries in Bentheim County, Westphalia. Dutch merchants had a monopoly on the trade in this ‘Bentheim Gold’.