A Whole Menagerie

A veritable menagerie of wild beasts is preserved within the heritage collections of the National Library of Luxembourg (BnL), namely zoomorphic maps known as the “Leo Belgicus” and “Leo Hollandicus”. During the early modern period, it became fashionable to depict certain countries or continents as animals.

The most famous example is the “Belgian Lion”, representing the territory of the Spanish Netherlands, but other creatures also appeared, such as Pegasus for part of Asia (1581), the Eagle for Tyrol (1609), or the Bear for the canton of Bern (around 1700). The practice of creating theriomorphic maps persisted into the 20^th century, as demonstrated by the MAPA HUMORISTICO DA EUROPA from around 1939 in Portuguese and Chinese.

The birth of the Belgian Lion

The first Belgian Lion dates to 1583 and was created by Michael von Aitzing (call number: BnL, L.P. 4276; second copy: C. & P. 6891) for his work De leone Belgico. The rampant lion stands on three legs, its head raised and facing right, covering the territory from Eu in Normandy to Delfzijl near Groningen. The last example recorded by Henricus A. M. van der Heijden, author of the leading reference work on the subject (Leo Belgicus. An illustrated and annotated carto-bibliography, Alphen aan den Rijn, 2006), dates from 1815–1818.

The primary purpose of the Belgian Lion was not cartographic accuracy but propaganda. This explains why a majestic lion was chosen rather than, say, an earthworm, a far more common animal in these lands. On one of the Belgian Lions, the author declares that the Netherlands, comprising 17 provinces (roughly today’s Benelux), was a “country” surpassing even certain kingdoms. This fierce beast symbolised strength, serenity, unity and independence for a territory that, in reality, was at war and under Spanish rule. Von Aitzing justified his choice of the lion with a biblical reference (Prov. 30:30: “The lion, the hero among beasts, turns not away from any”) and a passage from Julius Caesar (“Of all the Gauls, the Belgae are the bravest”). Additionally, the lion was the heraldic animal of Brabant and Holland, among others. Although its political function has faded, the Belgian Lion remains a highly sought-after and expensive collector’s item.

The herd of lions at the BnL

Since the former Duchy of Luxembourg was part of the Netherlands and appears on most Belgian Lions, the BnL has sought to acquire these maps. The hunt, begun in the 20^th century, intensified in the 21^st, with notable success. As of our updated February 2025 inventory, the BnL holds around three dozen lions, including most of those documented by van der Heijden. If we focus on the different versions only (without taking the various states of the maps into account), only 13 of the 33 known maps are missing from the collection.

Two particularly rare specimens are catalogue numbers 3.2.[1.] (a state unknown to van der Heijden; call number: C. & P. 7266 / X-A-1) and 21.1 (call number: C. & P. 6888 / X-A-1). Here, we focus on the latter. This lion is exceptional for two reasons. First, the leonine map (pre-1668) is surrounded by four engraved maps, one of which, titled “DVCHÉ DE LVXEMBOVRG” (around 1655–1665) and printed by the Parisian publisher Jacques Lagniet (*around 1600–†1675), appears at the lion’s bottom left. Second, it is the only known copy of this zoomorphic map in existence.

State 21.1 differs from the four (or possibly five) other known versions by the presence of five small ships between the lion’s tail and back. This specimen (sheet size: 40 × 60 cm) was once part of the Hamer(-Hellinckx) collection in Luxembourg and has been held by the BnL since 2009. The two Luxembourg-related maps are reproduced in Van der Vekene (Les cartes géographiques du duché de Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 1980, pp. 200–202, no. 2.42), though only in black and white. This unique leonine map (lion with text: 37.5 × 33 cm), engraved by Valentin Lefèvre (*1637–†1677) and printed in Paris, bears the title “LE LION BELGIQVE DES PAIS BAS CONTENANT LES XVII PROVINCES”. Despite the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) having formalised the division of the Netherlands nearly twenty years earlier, the map still presents the Netherlands and the United Provinces as a single 17-province entity, a single animal’s body. It is only in the legend beneath the lion’s paws that it is clarified that these are two “Estats” of nine and eight provinces respectively. This is followed by a reaffirmation of their shared virtues: “Ce Pais est plein de bons patturages et est grandem(en)t fertil en beure[,] fromage et autres choses […]”. Enhancing both its visual appeal and monetary value, this print was not left in black and white; instead, a colourist hand-coloured it to highlight the king of the animals even further. However, the person responsible does not appear to have been an expert in heraldry as the Luxembourg coat of arms features orange burelles (stripes) instead of silver, while the red lion (“roude Léiw”) remains white. The Limbourg arms are also oddly rendered.

The legend of the small left-hand map notes that, in the mid-17^th century, the Duchy of Luxembourg comprised 23 towns (including “Neuchatel”, “Bilburg” and “Marche en famine”) and nearly 1,200 villages.

For now, the hunt continues – so long as budgets allow and the collection remains incomplete.

This article was originally published in French. The English version was translated using AI and reviewed by the author.