Lion of Gripsholm Castle

The Lion of Gripsholm Castle (Swedish: Lejonet på Gripsholms slott) is a taxidermied lion that is presented on a mount in Gripsholm Castle, Sweden. It has been retroactively regarded as poorly executed and comically deformed, drawing amusement and speculation since it was created in the 18th century.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

In 1731, the dey of Algiers, Baba Abdi, presented King Frederick I of Sweden with a lion, one of the first lions in Scandinavia.^[6] When alive, the lion was kept in a cage near Junibacken. When the lion died, it was stuffed and mounted. There are two main theories that give insight into an explanation of the exaggerated features of the restoration. A popular theory is that the taxidermist and the museum-keepers may have never actually seen a lion before, and did not know how they were supposed to look.^[7] The lion has a ferocious appearance only from the side, which also explains the inaccuracies in the rest of the body, as the taxidermist may have simply focused on the intended viewing perspective.^[8]