Studies of a Rearing Horse Attacked by a Lion and a Lion Wrestling with a Serpent
Eugène Delacroix French
Not on view
The turbulent forms of the animals featured on this sheet show Delacroix’s imagination at work in ink. Animal attacks and hunts were a constant theme in his work from 1828 onward. His firsthand experiences witnessing clashes between creatures combined with his study of works by other artists, such as the dramatic seventeenth-century hunts of Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, enabled him to invent violent confrontations with his pen. The repetition of the entangled animals produces an effect aptly compared to "time-stopped motion" and gives a sense of successive moments in the writhing struggle.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.