Title: The Repast of the Lion

Artist: Henri Rousseau

Origin: France

Medium: Oil on canvas

The lion’s eyes are very striking, looking straight forward at the audience as it is eating what appears to be another animal. The lion is more realistic than abstract with a life-like color scheme. In comparison to the painting as a whole, the lion is not emphasized to the extent it could have been, which shows the audience it’s frightening subtlety. The lion is painted in relation to the nature surrounding it, playing a key role in analyzing the meaning of the work. The overall depiction of the lion and its surroundings allow me to connect the idea of the painting to society as a whole. When looking at the placement of all the subjects in the painting, the juxtaposition of nature and the lion is prominent. The beautiful flowers and trees along with the sunset paint a lovely, almost serene picture, until the eye is drawn down to the lion. Depicted with a bloody animal in its mouth, it could be seen that this represents a conception in the painter’s mind of the overarching beauty of nature, having within it a small component of intrinsic violence. From a distance, everything seems to be harmonious, however when looked at closely, individual manifestations of power that are intrinsic violations of boundary bespeak a power-over dynamic that exists within the larger framework of society. This piece of artwork seems to be making a statement about perceived and actual reality and relations.