Antoine-Louis Barye was the undisputed master of the Animalier School of sculpture in the 19th Century. Breaking away from the establishment, he modelled animals with the same sincerity usually afforded to the human subject. Although Barye is best known for his sculpting of animals, it should be remembered that he did not limit himself exclusively to this subject, and that he produced numerous works of note depicting people and allegorical scenes. He was one of the great masters of Romantic sculpture along with David d'Angers and Rude.
The son of a Lyonnaise goldsmith, Barye started work at the age of thirteen as an apprentice to a metal engraver in the workshop of Martin Guillaume Biennais, Napoleon’s master goldsmith. There, the young artist observed the most sophisticated technical practices current among Parisian goldsmiths, encountering neo-classical and antique models, which would prove to influence his own work in the years to come.
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