Lion and Serpent (Tuileries Lion)

Original model 1833; this cast before 1929

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Antoine-Louis Barye

Lion and Serpent (Tuileries Lion)

Original model 1833; this cast before 1929

Physical Qualities Bronze, 22 1/2 x 29 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (57.2 x 74.9 x 39.4 cm.)

Credit Line The Jacob Epstein Collection

Object Number 1951.125

To commemorate the victory of King Louis-Philippe’s government over the Bourbon monarchs of France, Barye created this image in 1832 of a lion overpowering a serpent. The majestic beast raises its right forepaw to strike the recoiling snake. A monumental cast of this work was installed in Paris in front of the royal residence, the Tuileries Palace. The composition was so popular that it was reproduced in various sizes both during the artist’s lifetime and afterwards.

The Baltimore Museum of Art on deposit; The Baltimore Museum of Art on extended loan, 1929-1951; the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, by bequest, 1945

Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, TX, February 7-March 7, 1965.

Fogg Art Museum, "Metamorphoses in Nineteenth-Century Scupture", November 1975 - January 7, 1976

Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, "Antoine-Louis Barye, Romantic Sculptor", June 18-September 3, 2006

Jacob Epstein, The Jacob Epstein Collection, Baltimore, 1939, p. 29.

Stuart Pivar, The Barye Bronzes, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collector' Club, 1974, p. 124, no. A39.

"Metamorphoses in Nineteenth-Century Sculpture," Fogg Art Museum, exhibition catalog, 1975.

Inscribed: Signature: BARYE