06081_BaltWalters_Barye_27_165_nbl_meilleure
Lion de la Colonne de Juillet
Lion of the July Column
modeled ca. 1836; posthumously cast (post 1875)
copper alloy with green and black over red-brown patina
statuette
Dimensions (HxWxD): 8 1⁄8 x 16 5⁄8 x 2 3⁄4 in.
Acc. No.: 27.165
Credit Line: Acquired by William T. Walters, 1884
Photo credit: The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
© Artist : public domain
© Artist : public domainProvenance
- Paris, Ferdinand Barbedienne
- 1884, October 22, Baltimore, William T. Walters, by purchase [George A. Lucas as agent]
- 1894, Baltimore, Henry Walters, by inheritance
- 1931, Walters Art Museum, by bequest
Comment
- Museum's information, April 2013:
A ferocious lion with a massive mane strides across a shallow ledge. The beast represents the astrological sign Leo; a band with stars behind it represents the sun's path through the houses of the zodiac. The design is adapted from a colossal relief on the pedestal of the July Column, which was unveiled in the Place de la Bastille in Paris in 1840. It commemorates the 504 citizens killed a decade earlier in the revolution that overthrew the Bourbon monarchy. The reference to Leo, the sign of the zodiac that governs late July, was particularly relevant to the Orléans monarchy, which came to power during the three-day revolution of July 27-29, 1830.