Barye produced a large number of sculptures, drawings and paintings of animals. His greatest fascination was for exotic animals – an interest he shared with Delacroix. Both artists frequently went to the travelling zoo that visited Paris around 1830, where they could study the famous tiger Atir at close range. Drama and combat are recurrent themes in Barye’s oeuvre. In some works he combines realistic portrayals of fighting animals with themes from classical mythology – as in the sculpture Theseus Wrestling with the Centaur shown here.