On his debut at the Paris Salon in 1831, Antoine-Louis Barye made an astonishing impact with a monumental sculpture depicting a tiger devouring a crocodile. Before this moment, animal subjects had not been well received at the Salon, but Barye’s brilliant technique, realistic detail and startlingly dramatic narrative captured the imagination of critics and the public alike. Barye’s dramatic interpretations of sometimes violent themes made him one of the most prominent sculptors of the Romantic movement in France.