The Goncourts, Gustave Planche, and Antoine-Louis Barye’s Un Jaguar dévorant un lièvre

In their review of the Salon of 1852, the Goncourt brothers celebrate Barye’s Jaguar dévorant un lièvre. Their enthusiasm, however, is in striking contrast to the skepticism voiced by many critics concerning the place of la sculpture animalière in the annual Salons. In an important article published just a year before the Goncourts’ review, the critic Gustave Planche sought to rescue Barye by describing his career as a progressive move away from naturalistic animal themes and toward idealized subjects drawn from classical tradition. The Goncourts reverse the terms of Planche’s logic, arguing that the zoological naturalism of Barye’s Jaguar dévorant un lièvre represents not a liability to be overcome, but rather participates in what they term “l’evolution de l’art moderne.” (ms )