A French White Marble Group of Milo of Croton Devoured by a Lion, After Pierre Paul Puget (1620-1694), 19th Century

Pierre Paul Puget's nine-foot marble version of Milo was created for Louis XIV's gardens at Versailles in 1682. The marble now resides in the Louvre, Paris. 

Pierre Puget was one of the greatest artistic personalities of 17th century France, active as he was as a sculptor, painter and architect. Having trained in Italy, he was unusual among his peers in that he worked almost exclusively away from the French court, mainly in Marseilles, the town of his birth, and Toulon.

Milo of Crotona

Milo was a Greek athlete several times champion of the Olympic and Pythian games. As an old man, he wished to test his vigor by splitting a tree trunk that he found already cleft. His hand remained caught in the stump and he was devoured by wolves. Puget replaced these animals with the nobler figure of a lion and created a composition imbued with baroque passion and drama. Milo's body is writhing in pain and his flesh appears to be shuddering under the chisel's touch.