Theseus Combating the Minotaur (Thésée combattant le Minotaure), second version

French sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye is best known for his portrayals of highly naturalistic figures engaged in dramatic confrontations. Initially trained as a goldsmith, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1818 to study sculpture and painting. While at the École he mastered the rendering of anatomical form according to classical models and also attained an interest in subjects drawn from Greek mythology. Barye’s work was later influenced by the French romantic style, with its partiality for strong emotion and violent subjects. In this bronze sculpture Barye expertly combines both classical and romantic artistic ideals. According to Greek myth, the hero Theseus went to Crete to kill the Minotaur in the labyrinth. By this heroic act, Theseus freed the Athenian youths and maidens who were fated to be sacrificed to the half-bull, half-man monster. Shown locked in combat, the figures of Theseus and the Minotaur are rendered in ideal classical form.