Rhinoceros Attacked by Tigers, Bronze sculpture in Tuileries Garden, France
Rhinoceros Attacked by Tigers is a bronze group by Auguste Cain set in the Tuileries Garden, about 1.75 m high and 3.3 m wide. A rhinoceros stands braced on its legs while tigers cling to its back and flank, their bodies pressed against its hide. Cain modelled the muscles, folds of skin and open jaws so the struggle reads from every side.
Auguste Cain finished this work in 1882, and it was shown at the Paris Salon in 1884 and then at the World's Fair in 1889. These exhibitions helped make it a notable example of French animal sculpture from that era.
Auguste Cain modelled the group from life studies of animals kept in the Jardin des Plantes menagerie, a few streets from the Tuileries. The work belongs to the animalier current of 19th-century French sculpture, and its subject echoes the public's appetite for exotic beasts brought back by explorers and shown in Paris.
The sculpture sits in the Tuileries Garden near the Terrasse des Feuillants and is visible from outside. You can easily spot the engraved inscription showing the artist's name and when the work was finished.
Auguste Cain modelled the group so the rhinoceros rears and twists while the tigers cling to its back, a pose that makes the bronze readable from several sides. The plaster model was shown at the 1882 Salon before the bronze was cast.
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