THE LION

IN ITALIAN FOLKLORE…

the noble lion holds a place of great prominence. Its origins began in ancient Rome with the God of wine, Bacchus. According to legend, Bacchus used the lions to guard his wine caves. Flash forward to the creation of The Order of the Sons of Italy who also used the lion as their logo. When Lorenzi Estate started searching for a suitable piece of art for our lion, we weren’t happy with early choices. However, a conversation between Don Lorenzi and good friend Andrea Palagi of Mario’s Place Restaurant in Riverside produced quite a surprise result. Andrea’s mother, Eleanora, was a world class sculptress in Italy in the 1960s and she had taken a photo of a clay model of a lion that was used as a starting point for an art piece in Rome. Andrea and his brothers, Leone and Arrigo, offered to donate the art to Lorenzi Estate if it could work. Don Lorenzi was stunned and gratified by their generosity. And so it is with great honor and respect that we go forward with the strength, boldness and style of the lion that was created by Eleanora Palagi who is pictured here in Rome.