e point of
view, but we cannot see the rhythm of the curves balancing and repeating
each other from the tip of the uplifted tail to the arch of the great
neck. Nor is a particle of energy sacrificed to these beautiful
contours. The body is compact, the head large and expressive of power,
the thick paws rest with weight on the ground. There is none of the
pulling out of forms so often employed to give grace and so usually
suggestive of weakness. The composition is at once absolutely graceful
and eloquent of immense physical force. In the _Panther Seizing a Deer_
(_Panthere saississant un Cerf_), one of the largest of the animal
groups, we have again the characteristic double curves, the fine play of
line, and the appropriate fitting of the figures into a long oval, and
also the minimizing of the cruelty of the subject by the reticent art
with which it is treated. We see clearly enough the angry jaws, the
curled tail, the weight of the attacking beast falling on the head of
its victim, dragging it toward the ground. Nothing is slighted or
compromised. We see even the gash in the flesh made by the panther's
claws and the drops of blood trickling from the wound. But we have to
thank Barye's instinct for refined conception that these features of the
work do not claim and hold our attention which is absorbed by the vital
line, the gracious sweep of the contours, the lovely surface, and the
omission of all irrelevant and unreasonable detail.

Many of Barye's subjects included the human figure and in a few
instances the human figure alone preoccupied him. Occasionally he was
very successful in this kind. The small silver reproduction of _Hercules
Carrying a Boar_ has the remarkable quality of easy force. The figure of
Hercules is without exaggerated muscles, is normally proportioned and
quietly modeled. His burden rests lightly on his shoulders, and his free
long stride indicates that the labor is joy. This is the ancient, not
the modern tradition, and the little figure corresponds, curiously
enough, with one of the male figures in the Piero di Cosimo mentioned at
the beginning of this article. In the latter case the strong man is
engaged in combat with a living animal, but he carries his strength with
the same assurance and absence of effort in its exercise. Barye,
however, does not always give this happy impression when he seeks to
represent the human figure. If we compare, for example, the bronze made
in 1840 for the Duke of