Horse Attacked by a Lion (Episode C)

George Stubbs, 1724–1806

between 1768 and 1769

beeswax and oil on panel

Yale Center for British Art

A white horse struggles violently as a lion attacks it from behind, biting its neck and hindquarters. The scene is set in a dark, rocky, and overgrown environment. George Stubbs returned repeatedly to the theme of the lion attacking a horse in his early career. The painter Benjamin West owned this small version of the subject until his death in 1820, and it may have been made in preparation for an enamel painting of the exact same composition that Stubbs made in 1769. The enamel version was an experimental picture, typical of Stubbs’s fascination with new techniques and technology, and for which he may have wished to make a detailed model in a more familiar medium. Alternatively, West may have asked for a simple replica of that enamel version after seeing the picture. Yale Center for British A