Scientist of the Day - Antoine-Louis Barye
Antoine-Louis Barye, a French sculptor, was born Sep. 24, 1796. Barye was the first and foremost sculptor of the Animalier school of 19th-century Paris. Barye made large bronzes of mostly ferocious animals in a very life-like style, and he executed nearly all of the casts himself, so they are meticulous in detail and finish. He found most of his subjects in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes. One of his most famous pieces, Lion and Serpent, was exhibited in 1832 and is now in the Tuilleries; there is a copy in Baltimore at the Walters Art Gallery (see first image above). Another well-known piece, Tiger Devouring a Gavial, was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1831 and is now in the Louvre; a reduced copy is also in the Walters Gallery (second image). Jaguar Devouring a Hare, ca. 1850, is a lovely bronze (third image); the Nelson-Atkins Museum here in Kansas City has the model for this piece, although it is not currently on display. And Barye’s Crouching Dog has always been a popular piece, available in much reduced versions on the bronze collectibles market (fourth image)
Barye was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, where a memorial portrait bust sits above his grave (fifth image).
Dr. William B. Ashworth, Jr., Consultant for the History of Science, Linda Hall Library and Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Comments or corrections are welcome; please direct to ashworthw@umkc.edu.
