Leopard and Serpent

Antoine-Louis Barye French

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 690

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.

Leopard and Serpent, Antoine-Louis Barye (French, Paris 1795–1875 Paris), Watercolor on laid paper

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Leopard and Serpent, Antoine-Louis Barye (French, Paris 1795–1875 Paris), Watercolor on laid paper
Leopard and Serpent, Antoine-Louis Barye (French, Paris 1795–1875 Paris), Watercolor on laid paper

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