This commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. They were guarding the family of King Louis XVI in the Tuilares Palace, but continued fighting after he had moved to another place. They eventually surrendered when ordered to by the King, but approximately 600 were killed in the fighting or massacre after surrendering, and another 200 died in prison later. The lion was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen of Denmark, and carved about 1820.
