Stag at Rest c. 1830 - 1840

Curator: What strikes me first about Antoine Louis Barye's bronze, *Stag at Rest*, is the almost melancholic pose of the animal. Editor: I see it too; but what I also see is the craft that goes into it, the lost wax casting that allows such detail in the bronze. It's an incredible feat of material transformation. Curator: Absolutely, and there's a tenderness in the stag's posture, a vulnerability despite its powerful antlers. It makes me wonder about Barye's intentions and his connection to the animal. Editor: Probably to do with labor and market value of nature, the social context for this kind of artwork at that time. Bronze was definitely a luxurious material. Curator: Perhaps, yet the stag's quiet dignity still speaks to me personally, and somehow transcends pure material considerations. It's a very moving image, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Maybe so. Still, I can't help but consider the entire process, from mine to foundry to finished product, that gives this artwork its deeper resonance.