The Lion Hunt

1860–61

Oil on canvas, 76.5 × 98.5 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

Hunters on horseback and on foot attack two lions in hilly, grassy country under a heavy, cloudy sky. It is one of several hunt scenes Delacroix returned to in his last years.

First exhibited after his death, at the 1885 Delacroix exhibition at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris.
Look at the lion leaping onto a fallen horse at the left and the second lion roaring over the men beneath it.
The scene is invented: having never watched such a hunt, he assembled it from earlier studies of terrain, Islamic dress and lions at the zoo.
Strokes stay loose and visible even in manes and faces, so men, horses and lions blur into one tangled mass. The quick handling adds to the violence.
Bought by Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer in 1892 and bequeathed to the museum in 1922.

Image: Art Institute of Chicago (open access) · CC0