Theseus Fighting the Minotaur (Thesée combattant le minotaure)

Best known for his carefully observed sculptures of animals, Antoine-Louis Barye also produced several works depicting the human body in action, including this representation of the ancient Athenian hero Theseus battling the half-man, half-bull Minotaur. Connected at the groin, the two muscular figures—one dominating, the other collapsing—form a dynamic study of contrasting energies with homoerotic overtones. This myth was conventionally read as good triumphing over evil, but in antiquity the subject also implied Europe vanquishing Asia. The Minotaur was from Crete, which the Greeks construed as part of a foreign, barbaric, and despotic culture. An idealized Theseus killing the Minotaur could thus signify the victory of classical Athenian democracy over a non-European hybrid monster.