Andrey Nikolov, "The Lion", plaster original, Monument to the Unknown Warrior

He studied in the first class of the newly established State Drawing School in the capital (1896). His teacher Boris Schatz recommended that he be sent to study in Paris on a state scholarship. There he enrolled in the studio of the famous sculptor Antoine Mercier. From 1915 to 1926, Andrey Nikolov lived and worked in Rome. During this period, Andrey Nikolov regularly exhibited his works at the Annual Roman Exhibition, in 1922 he was elected a member of the exhibition jury, and later as a representative of foreign artists on the board of directors of the International Association of Artists in Rome. From 1931 to 1940 he was a lecturer at the Academy of Arts in Sofia. It was his merit that Bulgarian sculpture received its European recognition.

This work is one of the most iconic memorial sculptures in the capital.

The "Lion" is monumental, massive, while at the same time the treatment of forms is delicate and exquisite.
Andrey Nikolov manages to bring life to every single sculpture, including this one. The soft form, the precise anatomy resurrects the ancient principles of building the form as we know it from Greek and Roman sculpture, with the difference that the polished sculptural form in Roman art largely dries up the image, while in Andrey Nikolov the surface of the material retains its sensitivity and feeling for life.