Lion au serpent, no. 3 (esquisse): M.3-2015

Titles

Lion au serpent, no. 3 (esquisse)
(Lion and serpent, no. 3 (sketch))

Maker(s)

Sculptor: Barye, Antoine Louis

Entities

• Animal figure

Categories

• Sculpture

Description

A lion with paw raised, about to strike a serpent. Bronze with dark rich brown patina, on oval yellow veined marble base.

Legal notes

Sir Ivor and Lady Batchelor Bequest through The Art Fund

Place(s) associated

• Paris ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (2015-04-27) by Batchelor, Ivor, Sir and Lady

Dating

19th Century, Mid#
Production date: circa AD 1833 : Date of original model 1832; first cast in bronze c. 1833; this version cast at an unknown date after 1833

Note

Dubbed the ‘Michelangelo of the Menagerie’ by art critic Théophile Gautier (1811–72), Barye was a Romantic realist artist based in Paris who popularised the genre of animal sculpture from the 1830s onwards. Animals were very low down in the traditional Academic hierarchy of accepted subject-matter for artists, and the term animalier (an artist specialising in animals) was coined by critics specifically for Barye as a pejorative appellation. Barye was a successful monumental sculptor, but also created hundreds of small-scale models of animals for reproduction in bronze editions for middle-class homes. His last sales catalogue of 1865 listed over 230 compositions available to order as edition bronze statuettes. Keen for accuracy, Barye studied ancient animal sculptures as well as live beasts in the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle’s menagerie, copied zoological specimens in the Musée d’Anatomie Comparée and made anatomical drawings of dead lions. Bayre’s animal portraits include single animal figures (e.g. M.19-2015) and groups of predators with prey, or in combat with each other (e.g. M.1-2015), and some with human figures (e.g. M.5-2015). The model for this bronze derives from a life-size plaster model made by Barye in 1832, which was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1833. It was later cast into bronze for Louis-Philippe (King of France from 1830 to 1848), and exhibited at the 1836 Salon (now Louvre, Paris, L.P. 1184). The composition was intended as an allegory to flatter the king with the lion symbolic of courage, strength and good kingship triumphing over evil. It also commemorated the fact that in July 1830, when the Revolution saw Louis-Philippe placed on the French throne, Leo and Hydra were the ruling constellations. Barye’s company produced different models derived from the original large sculpture at different dates and in different sizes. The model closer to the original sculpture with the lion and serpent on a flatter, less rocky surface (known as Lion au serpent, no. 1: see M.1-1944) dates from c. 1838; while another model with a much rockier service (known as Lion au serpent, no. 2: see M.2-2015) was first cast in 1857. The original model of the present bronze dates from 1832 and was first cast in bronze in 1833. Of all the different models of 'Lion au serpent', the present was one of the most important during Barye's lifetime and arguably remains the most popular today. After Barye's death, this model was one of the foundry models purchased at his 1876 studio sale by Auguste Delafontaine (1813-92), owner of a highly-regarded bronze foundry in Paris. It is unclear whether the present version was cast during Barye's lifetime, or was a posthumous production.

School or Style

French