Sculpture - The Lion and the Snake , Antoine - Louis Barye (1795-1875) - Bronze XIX th Century

Bronze sculpture representing a lion " Lion and Snake ", after Antoine - Louis Barye.
Barye offers us an epic duel between the king of the animals and a sly and clever opponent, the snake.
The lion is a roaring figure, his mouth gaping, his mane bristling, his muscles are powerful and tense from the effort of crushing a snake rolled up on the ground with a violent blow of his paw, which struggles and hisses.
Alfred de Musset, admiring, wrote about this work: "The lion of M. Barye is frightening as nature. What vigor and what truth! This lion roars, this snake hisses...".
Bronze with a brown shaded patina.
Signature of the sculptor " BARYE " , in hollow , on the naturalist terrace , richly chiseled .
Cast iron of old edition .
Period XIX th century .
Very good state of conservation and patina .

So much realism is not due to chance.
Indeed , Antoine Louis Barye knew perfectly the animal anatomy .
The sculptor revolutionized the way of representing animals.
For him, they are no longer political symbols or mythological attributes.
They become, on the contrary, the unique subject, the animal as such and nothing else.
This vision of the subject allowed Barye to create unique works, impregnated with elegance and naturalism.

Antoine - Louis Barye (1795 - 1875)

Famous for his animal sculptures, Antoine-Louis Barye was the son of a goldsmith, who trained in metalwork with a military equipment manufacturer and with Jacques-Henri Fauconnier.

In 1818, he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and apprenticed in the studio of the sculptor François Joseph Bosio and the painter Jean-Antoine Gros.
After several failed attempts at the Grand Prix de Rome, Barye left the Beaux-Arts in 1825.
He then turned to animal sculpture, which he brought up to date.
With his friend Delacroix, he regularly went to the menagerie of the Museum of Natural History to study and observe animals.

In 1831, Barye became known to the general public by exhibiting at the Salon "LeTigre dévorant un gavial" (Louvre), a work depicting a violent fight "of impressive virtuosity".
Two years later, he triumphed with "Le Lion au Serpent" plaster, which was also successfully exhibited in its bronze version at the 1836 Salon.

Preferring bronze to marble considered too cold, the artist multiplied the statuettes and small animal groups that he cast and chiseled himself.

Barye died at the age of 80, leaving behind him an important production of drawings, watercolors and paintings as well as sculptures and goldsmith's pieces.
His works can be seen in the Louvre and Orsay museums.

Ref: OAA30NM74U