Monument with Lion and Mirror, Pl. 18 — Nouvelle Iconologie Historique

An allegorical monument flanked by a couchant lion and a mirror of Truth — emblems of vigilance and self-knowledge in classical garb.

Plate 18. Designed and engraved by Jean-Charles Delafosse. From a suite of allegorical monuments published in Paris by Jean-François Daumont, c. 1770.

Plates of this kind served as adaptable templates for funerary stelae, festival decorations, and emblem-book illustrations exploring virtues such as Prudence and Strength. Delafosse's compositional formula — pedestal, attribute, and beast — proved enduringly influential for French commemorative sculpture into the Empire period.

Hand-coloured copperplate engraving. Sheet approximately 46.4 × 34.0 cm. Very Good.