Art Institute of Chicago's lions adorned with wreaths for holiday season
CHICAGO (CBS) -- "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. Take a look at the five and ten – it's glistening once again…."
Wait, the "five and ten?" Wouldn't that be more like a dollar store now?
That song is from 1951, and it wasn't written with Chicago in mind. But if it had been, it might have gone, "The lions of Michigan Avenue, wear evergreen wreaths to view."
And on this Black Friday in 2023, indeed they do.
Workers adorned the iconic bronze lions with giant Christmas wreaths on Friday morning. People were out posing for photos in front of the lions as they passed by.
Lights were also strung along the museum's grand staircase.
The bronze lions were sculpted in 1893 by Edward Kemeys, and were installed in front of the Art Institute the following year. As the Park District notes, the Chicago Tribune in 1894 quoted Kemeys as saying the lions were conceived of as guards for the building. The south lion, Kemeys told the newspaper, is "attracted by something in the distance which he is closely watching," while the north lion "has his back up, and is ready for a roar and a spring."
In their 129 years in front of the Art Institute, the lions have become city icons and even mascots – and have suited up to join Chicago in an array of celebrations. In addition to the wreaths they wear every holiday season, they are bedecked in celebratory giant helmets and caps each time the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Bears, or Blackhawks see postseason action.
Meanwhile, Illinois residents can visit the Art Institute for free on Mondays, Thursdays. and Fridays between Nov. 27 and Dec. 22.