The Lion Painting Hanging in a Family’s Living Room? It Was a Rare Delacroix All Along
French auctioneer Malo de Lusac was conducting a routine inventory check in France’s Touraine region—until he unearth a rare artistic gem. One family in the region had an original Eugéne Delacroix painting hanging casually on their living room wall. It had been in the family since the 1860s.
The work, titled Study of Reclining Lions, captures seven lions in various states of repose, with their muscular bodies and expressive faces rendered in rich ochres and deep browns. Six of the lions on the 24-by-20-inch canvas are depicted in exquisite detail, while the seventh appears as a simple line sketch.
The previously unknown work by one of France’s most celebrated Romantic painters made the auctioneer stop in his tracks. “When I saw the painting, I knew immediately it was something special,” de Lussac told Newsweek.
The work is heading to auction, tomorrow, March 28, with an estimated value between $217,000 and $326,000.
The family who owned this masterpiece wasn’t entirely certain of its provenance. The painting had been in their possession since shortly after Delacroix's death in 1862, acquired during the posthumous sale of the artist’s studio. For generations, it had simply been part of their home decor, its trade value and significance unrecognized.
Born in 1798, Delacroix rose to prominence as a leader of the French Romantic movement, known for his vivid use of color and emotional intensity. While his revolutionary painting Liberty Leading the People might be his most recognized work, Delacroix harbored a particular fascination with wild animals, especially lions.
The artist frequently visited the menagerie at Paris’s Jardin des Plantes, where he would observe big cats. His dedication to anatomical accuracy led him to study animal dissections—when a lion named Coco died at the menagerie in 1829, Delacroix urgently summoned his sculptor friend Antonie-Louis Barye with the message: “The lion is dead. Ride at full speed!”
The newly discovered painting joins Delacroix’s broader exploration of lions, including his Lion Hunt series. While the artist produced numerous ink sketches of lions, oil paintings like this one are exceedingly rare.
According to Libération, the work’s authenticity is supported by documentation: a 1973 certificate from the collector Pierre Diererle, a 1966 letter from Delacroix specialist Lee Johnson, and the wax seal from the artist’s studio sale marking the back of the canvas. After being authenticated, Study of Reclining Lions has been on display at Hôtel Drouot in Paris before heading to auction.
For collectors of Delacroix, this represents a rare opportunity—his works are typically found in museums rather than private collections. And for the art world, it’s a reminder that masterpieces can sometimes be hiding in plain sight, just waiting for the right pair of eyes to recognize them.
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