An impressive lion, wild and roaring, plate a snake on the ground. The reptile, the head thrown back, the jaws wide open, whistles with defiance. The extremely natural rendering of animals and the violence of the expression of this sculpture an event. The public and the romantics applauded. Conservative critics lamented the Tuileries Garden, while the sculpture was destined to become a zoo.
The truth of nature Barye sculpts animals like never before. First, they are the subject of sculpture, not a mere accessory. Then, the artist relies on an accurate and faithful analysis of nature. It seems to the illusionist rendering of the fur, to the truth of the movements, to the transcription of the wild character. His lion is a real consistency, sent the muscles under the coat. With the painter Delacroix, Barye spent long hours studying, drawing and even dissecting animals in the plant garden. But the sculptor is not a slave to his science: he recreated nature with the means of his art
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