'Horse Devoured by a Lion', George Stubbs

Artwork details

Artist

George Stubbs (1724‑1806)

Title

Horse Devoured by a Lion

Date ?exhibited 1763

MediumOil paint on canvas

Dimensionssupport: 692 x 1035 mm frame: 897 x 1243 x 80 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Purchased 1976

Reference

T02058

Not on display

Summary

This work is presumed to be one of a pair with the Tate's Horse Frightened by a Lion (Tate Gallery _c.htm">T06869), which was exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1763. Both are similar in style, mood, size and colouring. The theme of a horse being attacked by a lion obsessed Stubbs for thirty years. He made at least seventeen works on the theme, in various media including oil, enamel, engravings, and a relief model in Wedgwood black basalt. The theme consists of variations on two basic episodes, in which the horse scents the emergence of the lion and rises up in terror, which this painting illustrates, and the actual attack, in which the lion has leapt up onto the horse's back and sinks his teeth into the terrified animal's flesh… (read more)