CAST FROM A MODEL BY ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE, CIRCA 1880

The present group entitled Thse combattant le Minotaur, described by the art critic Ballu as being "une des oeuvres matresses de Barye, et trs relement un des chefs-d'oeuvre de la statuaire franaise", was executed by Barye in 1846. With the severe, classicising stance of Theseus and the dramatically contorted pose of the Minotaur, it successfully combines the often disparate influences of classicism and romanticism in Barye's early career.