Lion de l'Atlas

Eugène Delacroix valued the dramatic tonal range of lithographs, and the way that the medium could directly capture the spontaneous energy of his drawn lines. One of the most celebrated lithographs of its era, Lion of the Atlas Mountains embodies the artist’s fascination with predatory felines, Romantic symbols of untamed nature’s savagery and passion.

Delacroix never saw such animals in the wild. He based his image on studies of living and dissected lions in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, which he visited regularly with his friend the artist Antoine-Louis Barye (see nearby work).