Leeuwin before 1650

This is Antonio Tempesta’s ‘Leeuwin’, an engraving made sometime around the turn of the 17th century. Images of exotic animals were popular at this time, as they spoke to the expanding world of European exploration and colonization. In this print, the lioness appears in profile, standing over a barren landscape. Her ribs are showing, and her features are sharp, even human-like. These details tell us something about how animals were understood at this time. The lion was a popular symbol of power, often associated with royalty and nobility. But the lioness was something of an uncanny figure; as powerful as the lion, but with a hint of the domestic about her. The institutions of exploration and colonization shaped artistic production during this time. To understand this image better, we can look at the travel accounts and natural histories that would have informed Tempesta’s work. The meaning of this image is contingent on its social and institutional context.