ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE (French, 1796 - 1875). Thesée Et Le Minotaure (Theseus and the Minotaur), Bronze sculpture titled "Theseus and the Minotaur" (modeled 1843, cast later), signed 'Barye' to base, by the French Romantic sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye, captures the climactic moment of the Greek myth where the Athenian hero confronts the monstrous half-man, half-bull. Barye's work is celebrated for merging the classical ideal of the heroic, nude male figure—evident in Theseus's balanced stance and stylized hair—with the Romantic era's taste for intense drama and anatomical realism, often seen in his sculptures of fighting animals. The composition is a dynamic, tightly-locked struggle: the powerful, muscular Theseus stands firm over rocks, his body forming an erect, controlling vertical, as he uses his left arm to force the contorted, twisting body of the Minotaur down while raising a short sword in his right hand for the fatal blow, symbolizing the triumph of civilized reason and strength over bestial chaos. - Height 18 x width 11 1/2 x depth 6 1/4 inches. PROVENANCE:Estate of Baroness Marie-Christine Boulart-Deschamps, Washington, DC Estimate $15,000-25,000
