Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
Lion on the Watch
About the Artwork
In addition to his fascination with the classical past, Gérôme was one of the leading painters of "orientalist" subjects-exotic and romantic themes inspired by Napoleonic adventures abroad, romantic literature, and European colonialism. From 1855, Gérôme travelled regularly in Turkey, Egypt, and Asia Minor. Long fascinated by African animals, he sketched lions in the Paris zoo as a student and later hunted them on safari in North Africa.
Inscriptions
Signed lower left: j. l. gerome
Provenance
Frederick Gehring, Cleveland. Given to the CMA in 1945. (Knoedler & Co., New York, sold to Frederick Gehring in 1904)
Exhibition history
Baron Gros, Painter of Battles: The First Romantic Painter. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 8-April 15, 1956). Jean-Leon Gerome (1824 - 1904). Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH (organizer) (November 10-December 31, 1972); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (January 26-March 11, 1973); Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD (April 6-May 20, 1973). Animals as Romantic Icons in French Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 6-July 27, 1986). Jean-Léon Gérôme. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (June 15-September 12, 2010); Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France (organizer) (October 18, 2010-January 23, 2011). Gallery One 2012. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-March 5, 2017).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824–1904)
- Date
- c. 1885
- Medium
- oil on wood panel
- Dimensions
- Framed: 105 x 133 x 13.5 cm (41 5/16 x 52 3/8 x 5 5/16 in.); Unframed: 72.3 x 100.5 cm (28 7/16 x 39 9/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. F. W. Gehring in memory of her husband, F. W. Gehring
- Accession no.
- 1945.25
More by Jean Léon Gérôme in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009288
Powered by Art Trackers