St Mark's lion actually Chinese

[DBS]

Story in the Guardian, but link below is to the Antiquity article.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/chinese-identity-of-st-marks-bronze-lion-and-its-place-in-the-history-of-medieval-venice/70176EBEF6C480FA4246DC2F189D1F9B

My only question is that the lion seems a tad large to have been brought back via the Silk Road by Marco Polo's father and uncle.  Sea route, yes.  Stuck on the back of a Bactrian camel...  hmmm.

[Ian61]

Good find. Very interesting read.
Well it certainly seems to have been bashed about a bit.
Whilst I am generally a fan of isotopes problems occur once you start modifying things and mixing up as you would for this type of metal and in so many different phases. However it certainly seems as if it is from much further East than Venice, the Polo family is however a bit of a magnate for anything oriental seeming from this area.

[Keraunos]

Seems like everything, everywhere all at once is Chinese 

[Jim Webster]

Certainly I think we can say that some of the metal is probably Chinese.

[Cantabrigian]

The thing that puzzles me, is why did they bother?

There would be no point in importing bronze all that distance because it was available locally. 

It would be even more difficult to transport a completed statue.  And it wasn't even a statue they liked - they hacked it around quite a bit before installing it.

It all sounds a bit strange.  You'll be telling me that the Stonehenge builders imported stones from deepest Wales next.

[DBS]

The real question should be whether any Cornish tin, to make it one of Dave's Celtic dragons...