The Royal Beasts Exhibit at The Tower of London

Starting in the 1200's, there was a menagerie of animals living in the Tower of London for over 600 years! It was common for exotic animals to be given to members of the royal family as gifts and they would be kept and used for court entertainment from time to time. As part of the Royal Beasts Exhibition artist Kendra Haste has created several modern sculptures using wire mesh that are dotted around the tower grounds depicting the animals kept in the royal menageries long ago.

The sculptures are so life-like... they're really beautiful and I love how the real birds come and perch next to them...

The lions are particularly amazing! They're bodies look so real and their faces have amazing detail, especially considering the wire mesh medium used to create these pieces.

I didn't get a chance to see the actual exhibition in the Brick Tower while I was there, but the sculptures are reason enough to go to the Tower of London, even if you've already been before. They've updated quite a few other things since the last time I was there in March! For more information on the Tower of London and the Royal Beasts Exhibition, click here.