Lion au serpent, No. 3 (Lion and Serpent No. 3)

Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…

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Artist/Maker Antoine-Louis Barye (French, 1795 - 1875)

Datemodeled c. 1832

MediumBronze

DimensionsOverall: 5 × 7 1/4 × 4 1/2 in. (12.7 × 18.4 × 11.4 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Philip W. Abell, Class of 1957

Object number1994.21

Not on view

Description"Industrial advances in bronze casting developed in Paris in the mid-nineteenth century increased the production of small bronze sculptures for domestic display. Numerous bronze foundries where artists could cast their work in editions opened throughout the city. A growing bourgeois class provided an ample market for these decorative sculptures. Simultaneously, the public’s interest shifted from Renaissance and Classical forms to the depiction of more familiar subject matter. Animals, for example, became a very popular subjects for bronzes. During this period, zoos emerged as a popular venues for leisure activity for the middle and lower classes, piquing the public’s interest in exotic animals while also allowing artists to work from direct observation. This trend resulted in the term animalier, used to describe artists who primarily depicted animals. The sculptors who designed these bronzes had an intimate understanding of muscularity and anatomy and translated this knowledge to their work to create active and dynamic figures—both animal and human." (Label text written by Katherine Alcauskas, Collections Curator and Exhibitions Manager, Summer 2016) "This version, the earliest of Barye's freely rendered (as opposed to mechanically produced) reductions of the subject, is thought to have been the one he personally preferred. a cast of this model in the Musee du Louvre, dated 1832, represents a formative stage in the development of the 1833 Salon version. The serpent is more threatening, and the lion backs away slightly, raising its paws as it prepares to strike its foe." (SOURCE: Johnston and Kelly: Catalogue of Barye's Works)

Collections

European Art

Additional Details

Alternate Titles Lion About to Strike a Serpent (Lion la patte levée sur un serpent) or (Esquisse du lion des Tuileries)
A lion with a serpent

Exhibition History 2005
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Hamilton Collects: A Century of Curiosities: The Story of the Hamilton College Collection," September 29 - December 30, 2005 (unnumbered cat.);

1994
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). “A Discerning Eye: Philip W. Abell (1935-1993) A Memorial Exhibition,” September 23 - November 6, 1994 (brochure).

Provenance 1994: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by bequest of Philip Abell.

Markings None noted.

Published References A CENTURY OF CURIOSITIES: THE STORY OF THE HAMILTON COLLEGE COLLECTION exh. cat. (Clinton, NY: Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, 2005) [unnumbered];

Fred L. Emerson Gallery, "Acquisitions 1994," FRIENDS OF ART NEWSLETTER (August 1995);

A DISCERNING EYE: PHILIP W. ABELL (1935-1993) A MEMORIAL EXHIBITION, exh. brochure (Clinton, NY: Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, 1994);

William R. Johnston and Simon Kelly, UNTAMED: THE ART OF ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE (Baltimore, MD: The Walters Art Museum, 2006), 100, illus. 18;

Boulogne 1847, no. 36 (for 50 francs).

Signature Signature "BARYE" in cast incised in base at back right.

Inscribed None noted.