Stag Brought Down by Two Greyhounds (Primary Title)
Cerf terrassé par deux lévriers de grand race (Translation)
Antoine-Louis Barye, French, 1796 - 1875 (Artist)
This sculpture was commissioned by Barye’s royal patron the Duc d’Orléans. It is a grisly masterpiece of Romantic-Realism heightened by the highest degree of observed naturalism. The stag is caught in its death agony, head thrown back in shock. The two greyhounds are shown by their poses as extremely blood-thirsty. One has fallen underneath the heavy weight of the dying stag, its legs protruding on the other side of the composition. Hunting stags was a royal prerogative, and the ten-point stag was considered exceptional prey.
Signed (twice) and dated on naturalistic base: "BARYE 1832"
Inscribed: "DEBRAUX D'ANGLURE FR"; Additional remains of inscription: "Fondu d'un seul jet sans ciselure par Honoré Gonon et Ses deux Fils"
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund
Antoine-Louis Barye and the American Collector, James Graham & sons, New York, NY January 17 – February 28, 2004
Trippi, Peter. "The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Takes a Fresh Look at 19th-Century Europe." Fine Art Connoisseur 8, no. 5 (October 2011): 33-37. Color ill, pp. 37.
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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