What kind of lion did Leonardo da Vinci design for a French royal celebration?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a mechanical lion for a French royal celebration.

The lion was created for a 1515 event honoring King Francis I at Lyon or nearby Amboise. Contemporary accounts describe a life-size or large mechanical animal that could move forward and open its chest, revealing fleurs-de-lis associated with the French monarchy.

The device belonged to the tradition of court automata, in which engineers combined sculpture, theatrical surprise, and hidden mechanisms. It was not a living animal and was not intended as a practical machine for transport or work.

The lion is sometimes confused with Leonardo’s earlier mechanical knight, which was designed for the Milanese court around 1495. Both were automata, but they served different ceremonial settings and had different forms. Details of the lion’s mechanism are less complete because fewer technical drawings survive.