Lion and Lioness Fighting over a Boar, Bronze animal statue in Tuileries Garden, France
Lion and Lioness Fighting over a Boar is a bronze group by Auguste Cain, placed in the Tuileries Garden. It shows a male lion and a lioness standing over a boar they have brought down, their bodies angled toward each other above the prey. The three animals are modelled at close quarters, with the boar pinned beneath the cats.
French sculptor Auguste Cain created this bronze work between 1875 and 1882 during a period when animal combat was a popular subject in French art. The Barbedienne foundry cast the sculpture using traditional methods for fine art bronzes.
Auguste Cain's group belongs to the Tuileries' 19th-century programme of animal bronzes, installed under the Second Empire and Third Republic to instruct the public in natural history. Cain, a pupil of Rude, specialised in hunting and wild-animal subjects, and the work was cast by the Barbedienne foundry. Visitors today read the three animals as a scene of predation rather than a decorative ornament.
The sculpture stands near the Terrasse des Feuillants steps, where it can be viewed from multiple angles along the garden paths. The open layout of the Tuileries makes it relatively easy to locate and approach this bronze group.
The sculpture came from the Barbedienne foundry, one of the most respected bronze casting workshops in 19th-century Paris. This workshop was known for producing fine quality castings based on original artist designs.
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