Bronze Sculpture Of A Roaring Walking Lion By Louis Vidal Navatel, Blind, 19th Century

A bronze sculpture with a brown-gold patina depicting a majestic lion walking and roaring, signed Vidal*, dating from the 19th century. This sculpture is in good condition. It is signed on the base (see photos). Note: slight wear to the patina, see photos. *Louis Vidal, known as Navatel (1831-1892): Louis Vidal, also called Vidal the Blind or Vidal-Navatel, was a French sculptor. Born to an unknown father and Sophie Vidal-Navatel, he grew up in a family of artists. His stepfather was the painter Alexandre Colin, who married his mother as her second husband, and his half-brother was Paul-Alfred Colin. He studied anatomy but became blind around 1853, which prevented him from pursuing this path. He studied under the animal sculptors Antoine-Louis Barye and Pierre Louis Rouillard and became an animal sculptor himself, replacing sight with touch. This ability allowed him to create portraits; he perceived the shape of faces by touching them and sculpted them in clay. He is best known for his sculpture of a roaring lion, as well as a bronze bull, donated by the French state to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nîmes in 1867. Louis Vidal notably worked with Alfred Barye, son of his teacher Antoine-Louis Barye. He became a professor of modeling in 1888 at the École Braille in Paris. At the end of his career, he was hospitalized at the Quinze-Vingts, where he died. (excerpt from Bénézit) A highly regarded artist on Artprice. Dimensions: Height 17.3 cm, Length with tail 35.5 cm, Base 31 cm x 8.7 cm. All photos are available at: www.antiques-delaval.com