Antoine-Louis Barye

Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge, New York, until 1961.

Barye first created a life-size plaster version of this composition in 1833 for the Paris Salon of that year. This work, like his other animalia sculptures, was praised by the public and the French Government commissioned a bronze version to be placed in Tuileries to be enjoyed by all.

The sculpture, with its depiction of a ferocious tiger crushing a serpent, can be interpreted as a political allegory about King Louis-Philippe’s rise to power in the July Revolution of 1830, ending the reign of King Charles X.

Due to the popularity of the composition, Barye created several different editions of this sculpture, each varying in size, and some varying in the placement of the snake.

This sculpture, along with the other works by Barye included in this sale, were formerly in the collection of American socialite and art collector, Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge.

RELATED LITERATURE

M. Poletti and A. Richarme, Barye. Catalogue raisonné des sculptures, Paris, 2000, pp. 174-179.