Barye's original life-size bronze model of the Lion assis was commissioned in 1846 by the French government as an adornment to one of the main entrances to the Galerie des Tuileries. The lion remained in the Tuileries until 1867, when it was moved, together with an exact mirror image model, to the Palais du Louvre and placed to the right of the Porte des Lions on the river faade of the Pavillon de Flore.