Sunset with a Lioness

Sunset with a Lioness is an unusual subject for Corot, combining landscape with exotic animal subject matter. The painting suggests the influence of the Romantic interest in exotic and dangerous nature that characterized French painting in the 1830s, when Delacroix and Barye were popularizing animal subjects drawn from menagerie studies. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays silvery atmospheric tonality in late works, classical Italian light and structure in early works, poetic memory landscapes of feathery foliage and silver-grey tones.

The sunset creates a dramatic color scheme unusual in Corot’s typically restrained palette. The lioness adds a Romantic element to the landscape composition that departs from his characteristic pastoral serenity.