Lion and Serpent at The Musée des Beaux Arts, France by Scan The World

Description

An impressive figure of a wild roaring lion pins a serpent to the ground. Head thrown back, jaws wide open, the reptile hisses back defiantly. Owing to the extremely naturalistic rendering of both animals and the violence of the struggle depicted, this sculpture caused a huge controversy. The public and the Romantics acclaimed it. Conservative critics lamented the fact that the Tuileries Gardens, the sculpture's future home, would be turned into a zoo. True to life Barye sculpted animals in an unprecedented manner. First, they were the actual subject of his sculpture, and not simply accessories. Secondly, his interpretation was based on an exact and faithful analysis of nature. He sought to convey an illusion of fur, lifelike movements, and the untamed character of the animals. The lion has real substance; one can feel the muscles rippling under his pelt. Alongside the painter Delacroix, Barye spent hours on end studying, drawing, and even dissecting animals in the Jardin des Plantes. But the sculptor was no slave to his scientific knowledge: he recreated nature with the means of his art. He was occasionally compelled to exaggerate a muscle, highlight the modeling, and emphasize a line in order to give a true impression of life. Epic inspiration Barye instilled an epic dimension into this fight. He captured the moment when the action seems suspended in time. A dramatic element is added as the two animals size up each other's chances, anticipating the frenetic struggle to…