Studies of a Rearing Horse Attacked by a Lion and a Lion Wrestling with a Serpent c. 1830s

Eugène Delacroix sketched "Studies of a Rearing Horse Attacked by a Lion and a Lion Wrestling with a Serpent" in the 19th century using pen and brown ink with brown wash. Delacroix was a leading figure in the Romantic movement, which often explored themes of drama, emotion, and exoticism. His art reflects the era's fascination with the animal kingdom, as a mirror for human struggles and passions, and the concept of the "noble savage". These scenes of conflict can be seen as metaphors for the era's colonial tensions, pitting the "civilized" against the "untamed". Delacroix's dynamic sketches capture a raw emotionality, a hallmark of Romanticism that "seeks to render truth, and avoids pretending to be like the antique," as he put it. The violence depicted embodies a cultural narrative that frames dominance and submission, a narrative that continues to shape our understanding of power. In this piece, Delacroix confronts us with our own relationship to conflict and the narratives we construct around it.