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Van Amburgh and the Lions
Maker
(artist)
1802-1873
Alfred Clarence Alais (engraver)
1878-1893 (active)
William John Alais (engraver)
active 1877-1894 (Life dates)
(publisher)
Title
Date of Production
Medium
printed in black
wove paper
engraving
Dimensions
Width: 31.9 cm
Accession Number
Mode of Acquisition
Credit
Copyright
Location
Keywords
Related Works
Provenance
Inscriptions
Inscription: A.C. ALAIS. AND W.J. ALAIS. SCULP.T //
Inscription: VAN AMBURGH AND THE LIONS. //
Inscription: T.O. /
Stamp: WITT / LIBRARY //
Label: VAN AMBURGH AND THE LIONS. / THE original of this picture is in the gallery of his Grace the Duke of / Wellington, K.G., &c., to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for / permission to engrave it. Painted for the late Duke, it was exhibited / at the Royal Academy in 1847, and shows the "lion tamer" as he / used to appear with his animals at the London theatres, when the creatures were / confined within the limits of a strongly barred cage of iron. Van Amburgh is / habited in a costume after the fashion of an ancient Roman; he holds in his right / hand a small whip, the only weapon he was accustomed to use on these occasions / to defend himself against any attack the animals might be tempted to make upon / him, though there was never much danger attending them, so thorough was the / subjection to which he had reduced the naturally savage hearts, and that, too, / without the exercise of cruelty. The lion, a noble animal, has raised himself / against the bars of the cage, with his mouth partly open; behind him is the lioness, / crouching down, with her eyes fixed upon her master with an intensity almost / indescribable, yet with a mildness that is absolutely beautiful; so too is the face / of the leopard beyond. The lioness, the texture of whose skin is a masterly piece / of artistic handling, is, conjointly with the face of the leopard, the triumph of the / picture, from the expression thrown into them. On the right of the "tamer" is / a splendid tiger growling at its companions, and in the rear is a young leopardess. / In front of the cage, on the floor of the stage, are several objects associated with / theatrical success or amusements. Landseer never painted animal portraiture more / naturally and beautifully than in this composition, while even the human figure / harmonizes with the subject. //
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