Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Lion and Snake
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Delacroix's "Lion and Snake" is one of an important series of feline images that the artist created around mid-century and imparts an anthropomorphic view of the animal world based on contemporary science. The reclining lion traps a snake deftly against the ground with his two front paws, as he gazes almost contemplatively away from his victim. The snake, on the other hand, writhes in pain as he attempts free himself from the lion's grasp. Delacroix integrates the action with dark forms in the background, which emphasize the lion's contour, and with areas of light in the sky, which underscore highlights in the lion's paws, face, and body. The pose and the features of the cat's head, particularly the nostrils and eyes, derive from Delacroix's lion in his mural "Justice" in the Salon du Roi at the Palais Bourbon in Paris completed in 1838. If "Lion and Snake" and its source are allegories of justice over malevolence, the Walters Art Museum's lion suggests human introspection, whereas the Palais Bourbon's lion expresses brute force.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Mahler Collection (?); J. Montaignac; purchased by William T. Walters (through George A. Lucas as agent), Baltimore, March 22, 1888 [1]; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
[1] The Diary of George A. Lucas, p. 664.
Exhibitions
| 2024-2025 | Reinstallation 2024: Art and Process. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 2005-2006 | The Essence of Line: French Drawings from Ingres to Degas. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma. |
| 1997-1998 | French Master Drawings. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1992 | French Masterworks on Paper. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1983 | A Connoisseur's Portfolio: Nineteenth-century Drawings and Watercolors in the Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1979 | A Supple Brush: The Flowering of Continental Watercolors. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1968 | Hommage à Baudelaire. Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park. |
| 1951 | From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
| 1846 | Salon, Paris, 1846. Musée du Louvre, Paris. |
| 1889-1890 | The Works of Antoine-Louis Barye. American Art Gallery (New York), New York. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 11/15/1967 | Treatment | cleaned; re-housed |
| 6/5/1986 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 2/17/1992 | Treatment | mounted; re-housed |
| 1/1/2002 | Treatment | examined for exhibition; examined for loan; cleaned; mounted; re-housed |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 15 1/4 × W: 23 1/4 in. (38.7 × 59 cm)
Frame Window: H: 25 × W: 32 1/16 in. (63.5 × 81.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters, 1888
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1219