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The Repast of the Lion

Henri Rousseau, 20th century

Henri Rousseau's The Repast of the Lion is a 20th-century jungle scene in which a lion feeds on its prey amid towering, carefully layered foliage. The painting belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and at 113.7 by 160 centimetres it is large enough to draw you into its dense, invented wilderness.

Where to see it

The Repast of the Lion is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Works in any collection can be moved, rotated off view or lent to other institutions, so check the Metropolitan Museum of Art's official website for the painting's current display status before you plan your visit.

What to look for in person

The jungle as a wall of leaves

Step back first and take in the whole canvas. Rousseau builds the jungle from overlapping leaves, stems and fronds, each shape outlined crisply and filled with its own shade of green. Rather than fading into atmospheric distance, the plants stack up like a patterned screen across the picture. Notice how many different greens he uses, and how lighter and darker leaves alternate to keep the shapes distinct. This flattened, decorative treatment of space is one of the clearest signs of his personal style, and it rewards slow looking from left to right.

The lion and its prey

Move closer to the animals in the lower part of the scene. The lion is shown at the moment of feeding, yet the drama feels oddly still and composed rather than violent. Rousseau gives the animals smooth, simplified forms and clear outlines, much like the surrounding plants, so predator, prey and foliage seem to belong to the same carefully arranged world. Look at how the lion's body is framed by vegetation, almost as if the jungle were staging the encounter for the viewer.

Flowers, fruit and precise detail

Scan the canvas for the bright accents that break up the greens: large blossoms and rounded forms that catch the eye like ornaments. Then look closely at the surface. Rousseau's handling is smooth and deliberate, with little visible brushwork, and edges are kept sharp even on small leaves. This painstaking finish is typical of the self-taught artist, who worked slowly to achieve clarity rather than loose effects. Comparing the near-microscopic care of individual leaves with the bold overall design is one of the pleasures of seeing the work in person.

About the painting

Henri Rousseau was a self-taught French painter, often known by the nickname "Le Douanier" because of his years working in the Paris toll and customs service. He came to painting without academic training, and his work was frequently mocked during his lifetime before being championed by avant-garde artists and writers who admired its directness and invention. Today he is regarded as a central figure among painters described as naive or self-taught. Jungle scenes like The Repast of the Lion are among his best-known subjects. Rousseau is generally understood never to have travelled to the tropics. Instead, he drew on what was available to him in Paris: the plants in the city's botanical gardens and glasshouses, animals at the zoo, and images found in books, magazines and other printed sources. The result is not a record of a real place but an imagined wilderness, assembled from observed details and arranged according to his own sense of pattern and order. In front of the painting, this mix of the observed and the invented is what stands out. Individual leaves can look botanically convincing, yet the overall arrangement is theatrical, with foliage stacked in layers and animals placed within it like actors on a stage. The canvas measures 113.7 by 160 centimetres, a scale that lets the greenery fill much of your field of vision when you stand close. The work dates from the 20th century and is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Visitors interested in early modern painting will find it a useful example of how an artist outside the academic system developed a distinctive, highly recognisable approach to composition and colour.

Key facts

More by Henri Rousseau

• The Sleeping Gypsy — Museum of Modern Art
• La encantadora de serpientes — Musée d'Orsay
• Carnival Evening — Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Boy on the Rocks — National Gallery of Art
• The Dream — Museum of Modern Art
• The Muse Inspiring the Poet
• The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope
• Tiger in a Tropical Storm — National Gallery

Sources

• Wikidata Q19912313
• www.metmuseum.org
• engage.metmuseum.org