Lion and Serpent no. 1

model 1838, cast possibly about 1850

Bronze (sand cast), 22.9 × 34.3 × 17.1 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A crouching lion pins a snake beneath one forepaw and lowers its head toward it as the snake rears to strike. This tabletop bronze is a reduced version of Barye's large group for the Tuileries Garden in Paris.

The large version stood in the Tuileries from 1835, after a purchase by the French government.
Look at the lion's wrinkled snout, open jaws and bristling mane as it faces the snake.
Issued in an edition by the publisher Émile Martin; the base is signed BARYE.
Animal combat, long a minor subject, here gets the care once kept for heroes and gods. A struggle in nature becomes worthy of serious sculpture.
The museum bought it in 1910 with money from its Rogers Fund.

Image: The Met Open Access · CC0