Five studies of lion cubs

In studying lions, Jacques de Gheyn III was following the example of his father, who had made two studies of lions around 1600 (Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the latter formerly in the Vosmaer Collection; van Regteren Altena, op. cit., nos. 859 and 861). Executed with his characteristic short, swift strokes of the pen, the drawing represents the animals with an element of gentle humour which is absent in his father’s more precise, naturalistic studies. He made another study of the same lions, also formerly in the Calando collection, which is now in the Fondation Custodia, Paris (inv. 6865; van Regteren Altena, ‘de Gheyn III’, no. 59).

We are grateful to Denis Calando for his assistance in establishing the provenance of this drawing.