Jean-Léon Gérôme

This rare model by Gérôme was presumed by Ackerman (op. cit.) never to have been cast in bronze. However another bronze version of the model was sold in these rooms on 16 April 2002 as lot 200. The mule is taken directly from Gérôme's group of Christ Entering Jerusalem, to which the present work is closely related, while the palm-strewn base has been slightly widened to accommodate the foal. The figure of Christ, however, has been depicted as a child who rides side-saddle holding the Crown of Thorns. The Christ Child replicates the gesture of blessing an imaginary crowd in what is clearly a symbolic and mystical portrayal, prefiguring his own destiny and specifically that of his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The present cast exhibits the variation in patina for which the Siot-Decauville foundry was famous.

RELATED LITERATURE
G. M. Ackerman, The Life and Work of Jean-Léon Gérôme, London and New York, 1986, p. 323, no. S.44