Studies of Lions

Bonheur maintained a private menagerie which included lions at the Chateau de By, near Fontainebleau, where she lived with her partner Nathalie Micas beginning in 1860. A few years earlier, in 1857, she had started devoting more attention to depicting big cats. She was eventually able to draw them regularly, up close and with great scrutiny, after those in her menagerie were tamed and could roam freely on the grounds. This study of female and male lions suggests both sustained study and casual observation of their behavior.