Heads and Paws of Lions

While Delacroix never completed classical academy training, the practice of drawing from three-dimensional sculptural fragments stayed with him. He sketched details for future paintings like these from live caged animals as well as from dissected cadavers. Delacroix’s friend and fellow artist Antoine-Louis Barye even used casts of animal parts for his monochrome bronzes. In contrast, Delacroix’s touches of color increase the liveliness of these isolated images.