Lion Defending its Prey

Sir Edwin Landseer

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a lion crouched over the carcass of a large deer with curving horns, confronting a snake. The golden lion is toward the left of center, and the snake comes from behind it, its long sinuous body stretching down from the dark trees above. The snake's head is on the ground to the right of center, and it turns to the left to look up at the lion. The lion leans over the carcass, its yellow eyes wide and its mouth open in a snarl to reveal long white teeth and a pink tongue. Its claws dig into the pale brown body of the deer, leaving red trails of blood. The snake's mouth is also open, its dark tongue flicking outward. The background features shades of dark green, blue-green, brown, rusty orange, and yellow in a jungle setting, with tall grasses, trees, and what may be the edge of a body of water in the bottom right corner.