Barye, Antoine Louis, << bah REE, ahn TWAHN lwee >> (1796-1875), was a French sculptor and painter famous for his bronze statues of animals. Barye’s major works are noted for their precise and naturalistic anatomical figures of both animals and humans. His bronzes of fierce lions and tigers in combat especially appealed to artists of the romantic movement of his day.
Barye was born in Paris on Sept. 24, 1796. He spent much time at the Paris zoo with his friend the romantic painter Eugene Delacroix. At the zoo, Barye observed and sketched the wild animals that became his subjects. Barye also painted numerous realistic landscapes of the countryside around the village of Fontainebleau. He died on June 25, 1875.
