HD photographs of Lion au Serpent statue in Jardin des Tuileries - Page 634
We were again within the Jardin des Tuileries in the 1st Arrondissement of Paris, when we took these high definition photos showing a statue called Lion au Serpent, which was sculpted by Antoine-Louis Barye.
Paris Statues
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This first HD photo shows the Lion au Serpent statue, which in English translates to the Lion and Snake, which as you can no doubt tell, is a very realist sculpture of a lion that has captured a snake under its paw.
So this next close up photograph shows the front view of the Lion au Serpent statue with its claws spread wide over the curled up snake, and if you look carefully, you can see the name Barye inscribed on the left hand side of the base.
As you can see in this close image, due to the extremely naturalistic rendering of the lion as though it is roaring and the violence of the struggle depicted with the snake hissing, this sculpture caused a major controversy as to whether this should be installed within the Jardin des Tuileries, as it was more fitting for the Jardin des Plantes.
However, this statue was designed to be a symbol of the Monarchy, as after the July Monarchy of 1830 when King Louis Philippe I had ascended to the throne, there was much discontent with the regime, so the artist Antoine-Louis Barye, sculpted this as his approval of the political change.
So the accession to the throne of King Louis Philippe took place under the constellations of Leo, the lion and Hydra, the sea serpent, which is why this French sculptor decided to depict both of these animals together symbolising celestial approval as well.
Originally made of bronze between 1832 and 1833 the statue of the Lion and Snake was still placed within the Tuileries Gardens, yet many years later after the death of the sculptor, the bronze was put inside the Musee du Louvre and the outside sculpture was replaced with an exact moulding, so as to preserve the original.
Now the Lion au Serpent statue was placed on the terrace within the Jardin des Tuileries called the Terrace du Bord de l'Eau, which was originally designed by Andre Le Notre to provide a view over the River Seine for the royal family who lived at the former Palais des Tuileries that has since been destroyed.
Yet this view showing the back of the statue is looking towards the Tuileries Gardens with the River Seine behind us, and this sculpture is also located right by the Orangery that would be to the left of the image, which is now the Musee de l'Orangerie that houses the Water Lillies paintings by Claude Monet.
So as we mentioned earlier, the Lion au Serpent statue was produced by Antoine-Louis Barye who was born in Paris in the September of 1796 and started out as a goldsmith, initially with his father, then with the sculptor Guillaume-Mertin Biennais, who was a goldsmith to Napoleon Bonaparte.
But Antoine-Louis Barye also studied sculpture under Francois Joseph Bosio and in 1818 was admitted into the Ecole des Beaux Arts, however, initially he was producing small bronzes and medallions and then after studying animals at the Jardin des Plantes, he started producing compositions with different animals.
However, he wanted to be recognised as a sculpteur statuaire, which in English generally means a sculptor of large statues, and in 1831 Antione-Louis Barye first started exhibiting much larger statues, and it was in 1832 that he presented this work of the Lion and Snake statue at a Paris Salon for French artists.
And with a unique style of his own Antoine-Louis Barye sculpted animals in a precise and exact way through his careful analysis of the subject, always striving to create lifelike movements along with the untamed character of the animal, become one of the greatest French animaliers, always representing the animal as the main focus of the sculpture.
Yet this last photo shows a close up of the plaque, which is located on the pedestal base of the Lion and Snake statue, and here you can see that Antione-Louis Barye passed away in 1875, and it was after this the moulding was produced from the original bronze that is now on display within the famous tourist attraction in Paris of the Musee du Louvre.
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