Carved directly into a sandstone cliff face, the dying lion of Lucerne grips a broken spear with one paw while sheltering a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis — a monument that moved Mark Twain to call it "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world." This early color-printed card, published by Gebrüder Wehrli of Bendlikon-Zürich and printed by Louis Glaser of Leipzig, captures the Löwendenkmal in rich earth tones typical of the finest pre-linen European production. Designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and sculpted by Lukas Ahorn in 1820–1821, the monument commemorates the Swiss Guards massacred at the Tuileries in 1792. The Latin inscription HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI — "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss" — arches above the hollow where the lion lies dying. The undivided back with Weltpostverein trilingual heading (Suisse·Schweiz·Svizzera) and the "Nur für die Adresse" instruction dates this card firmly to the pre-1907 era; it was never sent, leaving the face pristine.