Category: Blog Post 1 (Page 2 of 2)

These statues, simply titled “Lion”, were modeled by the German artist Johann Gottlieb Kirchner circa 1732-1735.  They were constructed using Meissen porcelain, the first European hard-paste porcelain – this material was developed in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus.  These two lions were commissioned with around 150 other mammals and 30 birds during the 1730s, and were part of a collection of ceramic animals made for the ruler of Saxony, Augustus the Strong, who established the Meissen factory in 1710.

The first thing I noticed wasn’t the actual traits of the lions themselves; when I first studied the statues, I was able to find veinlike cracks that arced across both of the statues.  Of course, this makes sense, as porcelain is extremely fragile, and it’s remarkable that these statues were able to survive this long.  These lions in particular appear somewhat artistically stylized, perhaps to better suit the cultural aesthetics of the time.  The male lion’s mane, although not as thick as lion’s manes appear to be in real life, is gracefully detailed, cascading down his back in waves.  Both the lion and the lioness have long tufts of fur sticking out from their legs and bellies, which – while this trait is certainly visible in actual lions – isn’t nearly as bushy.  The lions’ bodies themselves are also made to appear quite fit and well-muscled, emphasizing the animal’s innate power and majesty.  The artist also took care to display the large, imposing claws of the two cats. Their claws are unsheathed, as if they are ready to pounce on whomever deigns to approach them.  In that respect, I have to wonder if their purpose was to resemble guardians.  However, I think the characteristic that caught me off guard the most was the expressions on both of these lions.  For whatever reason, the lions appear to have been anthropomorphized in a way – they were given pupils, strikingly similar to that of humans.  As a result, their facial expressions look uncanny.  I had to laugh as I looked at the expression on the lioness’s face; she looks disgusted or embarrassed, while the male lion just appears to be uncomfortable.  I don’t know whether that was the artist’s intention or not, but the emotions I felt when looking at these statues ran from amazement to amusement very quickly.

Barthelemy Prieur, Lion Devouring a Doe

The painting above is titled Lion Devouring a Doe ( that is exactly what the sculpture depicts so, very original title!). It was sculpted by an artist named Barthelemy Prieur, who was a French Artist and lived from 1536 to 1611. Though the artist himself was French, this sculpture in particular is mostly inspired by works that were created in Italy at the time. It is said that the artist studied art in Rome in his youth which would explain the influence of Italian art in this sculpture. In fact, this sculpture is almost a copy of an Italian sculpture ( also on display at The Frick), where a lion is devouring a horse that is resisting the lion. Here, the horse though is replaced by a much less resisting and rather powerless doe. So, though the artist is French, the sculpture is heavily influenced by Italian Renaissance art, because of this it is predicted that the sculpture was made in the late 1500’s ( predicted to be 1583, or slightly before). This particular sculpture was made out of bronze, as was the inspiration for this sculpture by the Italian artist (Giovanni Francesco Susini) that depicted the horse instead of the doe.

In this sculpture, the lion is noticeably ferocious looking as a lion normally looks, which makes this lion look more realistic than some of the pieces we viewed in class. Almost immediately you notice the lion’s mane which is very textured to look like real fur, and it is depicted in a way in which when looked at you almost already know what that fur would feel like if you were to actually touch it. To me, it looks a lot like the hair of the beast from Beauty and the Beast. Taking a closer look, the eyes of the lion looks very vicious,  one of the eyes is looking more towards the viewer while the other is looking to the side, notice that neither of the lion’s eyes are looking at the doe which is being devoured, which makes the lion look somewhat apathetic. As well, the lion’s body looks very muscular which is strange for the metallic medium of the sculpture which is rather rigid but, here is used to created rather muscular limbs and body which, give the lion a heavily powerful look. The lion’s claws/ nails are heavily emphasized so though you cannot see the teeth the paw that is on the doe has very visibly sharp claws on it that can do a lot of damage to the pray.  As well, though the teeth are not visible, what is visible is sort of bite marks on the doe’s body that indicate the lion’s teeth are able to do fatal damage when used to devour.  Lastly, the dimensions of the lion in comparison to the dimensions of the doe are much bigger which is used to emphasize the point that the lion is superior in the situation and is generally a powerful animal when it comes to the action of devouring.

Male Lion

This metalwork sculpture of a Lion originates from Nepal, a country in South Asia. Although there is no record of the artist, this piece of art dates back to the 19th century. This can be found in The Rubin Museum of Art.

At first glance, it was difficult for me to see this sculpture as a lion, given that it does not look like a tradition lion. Instead of the standard silky mane, this lion sports what seems to be protective armor.  Around it’s neck is a chained bell and directly below is a decorative, regal looking accessory; this gives the audience an idea that this may be a piece of chest armor. On all four legs, there is what seems to be a metal band bracelet with fire exiting through the backside. The lion’s tail twists and turns upwards, giving the audience an idea that this lion is alert and may be perceiving danger. The head is one of the most intricate and interesting part of the entire piece. On top of it’s head sits a meticulously designed crown, or another form of authority-bearing accessory. The eyes are dilated and contain a blue iris. The mouth is open, exposing the lion’s ferocious jaw and pointy teeth as it breathes fire!

Given all these details, I have concluded that this lion may be a royal warrior or a royal guardian. The demeanor of this lion is strong and powerful, as it is shown in his perfect posture and wide open eyes. This can be inferred to mean lions were used as a icons of strength, power, authority and affluence.

The painting “The Repast of the Lion” was painted by the French painter Henri Rousseau in 1907. This artwork was first displayed in the Salon d’Automne in Paris, France, but is now found on the second floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The medium of the painting was oil paint on canvas and the dimensions are 44 3/4 x 63 in.

In the painting, the first thing that strikes me is the lion centered at the bottom with the head of a jaguar in its mouth. The lion is standing with its knees bent towards its prey and there is blood dripping from its mouth. I can also see blood found on the bodies of both animals, since both of their claws are pressing into each other.  Everything in the painting is concaving towards the middle. The large flowers and leaves are leaning towards the center and the moon is perfectly aligned with the lion. There is a lightness to darkness contrast that can be seen between the light colors of the flowers and the dark green color of the jungle. The painting also depicts the lion in relation to its landscape, as opposed to the representation of just a lion. The entire landscape contains unusually large flowers and leaves in proportion to the lion and jaguar, which makes the lion and its prey the smallest in comparison. Even though the body of the lion is stylized very small, the artist still depicted its features realistically with the big mane of hair and light brown and beige hues.  As a viewer, the situation captured in the painting is authentic since this is how lions typically eat their prey. The painting represents the lion in a fearsome way because of the blood present and the fact that it is looking directly at the viewers, as if to say, “You are next!”

This painting, “The Sleeping Gypsy”, was painted by the French painter Henri Rousseau in 1897.  It is an oil painting done on a canvas. It is found hanging on the fifth floor at the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown. The dimensions of the painting are 4’3″ x  6’7″.

What immediately strikes me about the lion in this painting is the way its eye is wide open, staring right at one who is observing the painting. The lion is not the typical warm, honey brown color that comes to mind when one thinks of a lion, but rather a darker, more chocolate color which sets the nighttime theme of the painting. Something else that strikes me about the lion is the way its mane falls forward, rather than backward. Typically, when thinking of a lion one may picture the mane falling the opposite direction of its face. The mane also appears to be quite stringy and fine, but also fluffy. The way the lion is standing and looking at the observer is almost as if he was walking and froze as he realized he was being watched, almost like someone tip-toeing in the nighttime, being careful not to wake the sleeping gypsy up. The lion also does not depict the stereotypical “King of the Jungle” sort of picture often thought of when one thinks of a lion, but rather more of a cowardly, and maybe even shy lion. The gypsy in the painting appears to be sleeping peacefully, but at the same time firmly gripping a stick which one may assume she keeps for protection in the event that she needs it.

The painting “Lion” was made near Burgos, Spain after the year 1200. The artist of the painting is unknown. The medium that was used is fresco mounted on a canvas, and its dimensions are 10 ft. 11 in. x 11 ft. It is part of “The Cloisters Collection” in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The painting is an image of a lion standing up tall in front of a colorful background. The lion is showing the viewers that he is superior to everyone, and that he is the “king of the jungle” by standing above everything with great posture. The lion’s face doesn’t quite look like a lion at all. It has human eyes, which shows us it’s from the Medieval time period. It also has pointed ears, a human nose, a mustache, and its’ fur is standing weirdly. By looking at just the face, one would not think it is a lion, but from the rest of the painting and the rest of the body, we can see that it is. The body of the lion is very skinny and the tail is long and curled. The lion is staring intently at something, while his muscles are showing and his fur is pointed. This makes the lion look scary, which is what people expect of it.  The colors of the painting made me feel as though I was in Spain. The colors are calming shades of blue and orange, almost like a sunset. I found it very interesting that the artist put a lion, one of the scariest animals, in front of such a beautiful background. I found this piece very appealing to the eye and great for analysis.

“The Sleeping Gypsy” was painted by the Frenchman Henri Rousseau in 1897. The large 51.0 in x 79.0 in painting is on display on the 5th floor of the Museum of Modern Art. The painting is oil painted on canvas.

In the image we see a dark skinned gypsy wearing a colored striped tunic fast asleep on the mountainous desert floor underneath a moonlit sky. The gypsy has a stick in her hand and is lying next to a string instrument and a jug. Behind the gypsy is a dark lion, bent over. What struck me at first was the yellow eye of the lion that is painted as wide open, almost like it is staring into my eyes. Although the lion is bent over, you can also see a big mane, that covers about 2/5 of its body. Aside from its mane, the lion doesn’t seem to be realistic, because there is no fur drawn on the rest of the body. The face of the lion is similar to that of a pig.

While it looks like the lion is staring at the audience, it also looks as if the lion is watching over the sleeping gypsy for some reason. She is asleep and not startled by the lion’s presence so maybe she was aware that it was there and he was acting as a guard over her while she slept. The lion doesn’t seem vicious like he is about to pounce and attack a victim. Rather, he looks serene and calm, just standing confident over the gypsy.

My initial reaction to seeing the lion watching over the gypsy in the painting was fear for the gypsy. I couldn’t tell if she was in danger or if she knew what was going on. The dark colors of the painting mixed with the burst of color from the striped jacket compliment each other well and relax the tension of the eyes while looking at the painting. It all looks like a dream.

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.