Description
Roger Ballu, Barye's first biographer, relates how In 1865, at the "Grand Prix de Paris," a horse race held at Longchamps, the French filly Fille de l'Air (Daughter of the Wind) defeated the English entry. He continues noting that Napoleon III personally presented this silver racing trophy to Count Frederic de Lagrange, the owner of the winning horse. Barye received a commission of 10,000 francs for this enlarged version of Walking Lion, a subject that had first been cast about 1840. The problem with Ballu's account is that Lagrange's Gladiateur won the Grand Prix in 1865 after having won the Triple Crown in England, being the first foreign horse to do so. The Fille de l'Air, a filly also owned by Lagrange, won the Epsom Derby in 1864. Presumably, the marble plinth with the inscription identifying Fille de l'Air as the 1865 winner was cut long after 1865, when a confusion arose as to the exact history of the event. La Fille de l'Air did win La Coupe, at Longchamp in 1865. It is a group 3 race.
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