Isaac van Amburgh and his Animals

Landseer's Isaac van Amburgh and his Animals of 1839 depicts the American showman and lion tamer who toured Britain in 1838, performing his act of entering a cage of lions and making them submit to his will. Van Amburgh's performances were a sensation in London, attended by Queen Victoria who saw him six times. Landseer depicted Van Amburgh in the cage surrounded by submissive lions, tigers, and leopards in a composition derived from seventeenth-century animal paintings but updated to celebrate a modern spectacle. Queen Victoria commissioned the work herself, and the painting reflects the Victorian fascination with the power relationship between man and wild nature.

Landseer's rendering of the big cats demonstrates his ability to depict wild as well as domestic animals with vivid naturalism. The dramatic tension between the human trainer and the powerful predators creates an image of compelling dramatic interest.