Mountain Lion Mauling a Deer

Well-known for renderings of wild beasts engaged in conquest of their prey, Barye ranks as the preeminent artist among the 19th-century small bronze sculptors referred to as “animaliers.” The emotional and violent subject and dynamic composition, are typical of the Romantic era. Barye was known to visit Parisian zoos to draw animals from life. In 1859, Barye moved to Barbizon, a village located on the edge of the Fontainebleau forest, where he joined other artists of the Barbizon school, including Jean-François Millet and Théodore Rousseau.