Artwork Page for Lion on the Watch

Details / Information for Lion on the Watch

Lion on the Watch

c. 1885

Jean-Léon Gérôme

(French, 1824–1904)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
oil on wood panel
Measurements
Framed: 105 x 133 x 13.5 cm (41 5/16 x 52 3/8 x 5 5/16 in.); Unframed: 72.3 x 100.5 cm (28 7/16 x 39 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. F. W. Gehring in memory of her husband, F. W. Gehring 1945.25
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

In addition to his fascination with the classical past, Gérôme was one of the leading painters of "orientalist" subjects-exotic and romantic themes inspired by Napoleonic adventures abroad, romantic literature, and European colonialism. From 1855, Gérôme travelled regularly in Turkey, Egypt, and Asia Minor. Long fascinated by African animals, he sketched lions in the Paris zoo as a student and later hunted them on safari in North Africa.
A horizontally oriented oil painting depicts a tan lion with a dark brown mane perched atop a pale boulder in the foreground. Facing our left with its mouth slightly open and tail curving right, the lion stands against a vast landscape of hazy green and brown plains. Beyond the rocky ledge, distant mountains sit under a clear blue sky. Sunlight from our right highlights the lion's back, casting deep shadows across its underbelly.

Lion on the Watch

c. 1885

Jean-Léon Gérôme

(French, 1824–1904)
France, 19th century

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