Antoine-Louis Barye (Paris,1795 – 1875) exhibited his monumental plaster cast of this allegorical group at the Salon of 1833, where it was met with great acclaim.
It was purchased by the Crown, cast in bronze, and exhibited again at the Salon of 1836, before being publically installed in the Tuileries garden.
Although officially sanctioned by Louis-Philippe, the presence of a large-scale animal sculpture in such a public venue exasperated at least one critic in particular, who exclaimed, “Are the gardens to become a Menagerie?”
Share