Master of Arts in Art History

thesisEugene Delacroix's 1844 lithograph Lion Devouring a Horse features a dead horse that has fallen prey to an eager lion in a shallow and ill-defined setting. While Delacroix pursued lion and horse imagery throughout his career, producing numerous small paintings, sketches, and drawings of the subject, Lion Devouring a Horse stands apart. In Lion Devouring a Horse, Delacroix creates a disquieting intimacy for the viewer, drawing her into direct confrontation with a vicious act of consumption from which no visual, narrative, or psychological outlet is offered. This thesis explores Delacroix's artistic influences, his engagement with contemporary anatomical developments, and the particularities of the lithographic medium, in order to unpack the historical and cultural significance of Lion Devouring a Horse. The first section of this thesis examines recent precedents in lion and horse imagery set by English animalier George Stubbs and French Romanticist Theodore Gericault, recognizing thei