This is the curious story of the Lion of Gripsholm Castle and his strange smile.
In the eighteenth century the more exclusive gift between royalty and aristocracy was a wild animal. Thus, in an exchange of favors and with the desire to strengthen ties, King Federico I of Sweden received a beautiful lion sent by the Argel King in 1731.
Deeply in love with the beauty of this specimen, the king ordered it to be dissected when the animal died. The funny thing is that the taxidermist only got the animal’s skin and bones. He had never even hear about a lion in his life, but happily accepted the task.
In fact, at that time not everyone was fortunate to have seen a lion, and among them, of course, was the taxidermist who was entrusted with the complicated task: to make the skin and bones have the appearance of the original animal. There you have the final result.
