Artist Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863)
Title Lion and Snake
Description
English: Delacroix's "Lion and Snake" is one of an important series of feline images that the artist created around mid-century and imparts an anthropomorphic view of the animal world based on contemporary science. The reclining lion traps a snake deftly against the ground with his two front paws, as he gazes almost contemplatively away from his victim. The snake, on the other hand, writhes in pain as he attempts free himself from the lion's grasp. Delacroix integrates the action with dark forms in the background, which emphasize the lion's contour, and with areas of light in the sky, which underscore highlights in the lion's paws, face, and body. The pose and the features of the cat's head, particularly the nostrils and eyes, derive from Delacroix's lion in his mural "Justice" in the Salon du Roi at the Palais Bourbon in Paris completed in 1838. If "Lion and Snake" and its source are allegories of justice over malevolence, the Walters Art Museum's lion suggests human introspection, whereas the Palais Bourbon's lion expresses brute force.
Date 1846
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Lion_and_Snake_-_Walters_371219.jpg

The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the big cats in the genus Panthera and a member of the family Felidae. The commonly used term African lion collectively denotes the several subspecies in Africa. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in sub-Saharan Africa and in India (where an endangered remnant population resides in Gir Forest National Park).