The Lion of Gripsholm Castle (18th century Sweden) is one of the worst examples of taxidermy. In 1731 King Frederick I received a lion as a gift from Algiers. It was one of the 1st lions in Scandinavia. After its death, the taxidermist stuffed the lion. He had probably never seen a real lion and took some artistic liberties. Another theory suggests that he knew what a real lion looked like but chose to stuff it in a way that it resembled a heraldic lion found in the Swedish Coat of Arms #history

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