Panther Seizing a Stag (Panthère saisissant un cerf)

Dubbed the "Michelangelo of the Menagerie" by the contemporaneous art critic Théophile Gautier, Antoine-Louis Barye devoted his career to animal subjects, from sweet groupings of woodland creatures to violent encounters between predator and prey to mortal combats between the fantastic monsters of ancient myths. He blended the Romantic taste for the exotic and the sublime power of nature with the scientific exactitude of a flourishing modern zoology, lending an air of accuracy to every claw, fang, and horn.

Attacked from behind, this stag struggles under the weight of a panther, his forelegs awkwardly buckling and tangling beneath him. Barye includes grisly details such as the stag's lolling tongue. A study of sinuous contours and lithe muscles, the panther reveals intense energy, concentrated in the grimace of his powerful bite.