This house, now owned and operated by the Charleston Museum, was built in 1772 by rice planter Daniel Heyward as a townhouse for his son, Thomas Heyward, Jr. Because the city rented it to host President George Washington during his weeklong visit to Charleston in 1791, it is now known as the Heyward-Washington House. Many of its original furnishing have been acquired by the museum and displayed in the house, including this lion sculpture that dominates a fireplace mantel below a portrait of George Washington. I photographed the lion from slightly behind, and moved in with a wideangle lens to emphasize its power and strength. The repeating rhythmic flow of the mantel itself, the base of the sculpture, as well as the molding behind it, work to strengthen the horizontal thrust of outstretched lion’s paw. I converted the image to black and white, creating monochromatic contrast underscoring the energy of the beast.