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Leopard and Serpent

1810–75
Not on view
Barye worked primarily as a sculptor of animal subjects but also produced highly finished watercolors based on studies he made during his regular visits to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, often in the company of his friend Eugène Delacroix. There, he observed and sketched the live animals in the zoo as well as stuffed and skinned specimens in the natural history museum. He then imagined violent confrontations among species, such as this standoff between a leopard and a snake. The generic rocky landscape background that Barye invented for his　composition betrays the captive context for his observation of the animals.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Leopard and Serpent
  • Artist: Antoine-Louis Barye (French, Paris 1795–1875 Paris)
  • Date: 1810–75
  • Medium: Watercolor on laid paper
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 6 5/8 x 9 7/8 in. (16.8 x 25.1cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.579
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Theseus Fighting the Centaur Bianor, Antoine-Louis Barye French, Bronze (sand cast), French, Paris
Theseus Fighting the Centaur Bianor
Antoine-Louis Barye
modeled 1849, cast ca. 1867
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Still-Life with a Watermelon and Pomegranates, Paul Cézanne French, Watercolor over graphite on laid paper
Still-Life with a Watermelon and Pomegranates
Paul Cézanne
1900–1906
Tiger in Repose, Antoine-Louis Barye French, Oil on canvas
Tiger in Repose
Antoine-Louis Barye
ca. 1850–65
The Connoisseur, Honoré Daumier French, Pen and ink, wash, watercolor, lithographic crayon, and gouache over black chalk on wove paper
The Connoisseur
Honoré Daumier
ca. 1860–65

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