The painting “Lions in a Mountainous Landscape” was painted by artist Theodore Gericault in France sometime between 1818 and 1820. Its dimensions are 19 x 23 1/2 in. And its medium is oil on wood.

This painting depicts six very realistic lions interacting with each other. Three of the lions have very textured and life-like manes while the other three lions manes’ seem to be missing. They almost look like tigers without their stripes. The lion directly in the middle of the painting is growling in the fearful position most of us imagine lions to always be. The other three lions lying on the floor and it seems they are just minding their now business, while the last two lions in the back are brawling with each other. All of the lions’ fur is very textured. I can imagine myself running my fingers through their short yet soft hair. While not all of the lions teeth are showing the ones that have their mouths open show very sharp fang like teeth. The lions are sitting on a mountainous landscape (which is  implied from the name of the painting). The sky’s reddish blackish color implies that it’s probably dawn or dusk. As a viewer, the lions are scary. They come off as scary not only because of their sharp teeth and intense demeanor, but also because they seem unapproachable. They remind of the popular kids who dominate the cafeteria. In my opinion, the artist portrayed the lions in the way that most of society today views them, as the kings of the jungle.