and twenty _Amis du
Vendredi_ dining together at little wineshops on mutton and cheese and
wine with an occasional pate given as a treat by some member in funds
for the moment. He was not above enthusiasm for "_un certain pate de
maquereau de Calais_" and he was fond of the theater and of all shows
where animals were to be seen. It is pleasantest of all to think of him
at his work, the beauty of which he knew and the ultimate success of
which he could hardly have doubted.

[Illustration: From the collection of the late Cyrus J. Lawrence, Esq.

A LIONESS

_From a bronze by Barye_]

In what does the extraordinary quality of this work consist? The
question is not difficult to answer, since, like most of the truly great
artists, Barye had clear-cut characteristics among which may be found
those that separate him from and raise him above his contemporaries.
Scientific grasp of detail and artistic generalization are to be found
in all his work where an animal is the subject, and this combination is
in itself a mark of greatness. If we should examine the exceptionally
fine collection of Barye bronzes belonging to the late Mr. Cyrus J.
Lawrence, and consisting of more than a hundred beautiful examples, or
the fine group in the Corcoran Gallery at Washington, we should soon
learn his manner and the type established by him in his animal subjects.
In the presence of so large a number of the works of a single artist,
certain features common to the whole accomplishment may easily be
traced. One dominating characteristic in this case is the ease with
which the anatomical knowledge of the artist is worn. Even in the early
bronzes the execution is free, large, and quite without the dry
particularity that might have been expected from a method the most
exacting and specific possible. Barye from the first went very deeply
into the study of anatomy, examining skeletons, and dissecting animals
after death to gain the utmost familiarity with all the bones and
muscles, the articulations, the fur and skin and minor details. His
reading of Cuvier and Lamarck indicates his interest in theories of
animal life and organism. He took, also, great numbers of comparative
measurements that enabled him to represent not merely an individual
specimen of a certain kind of animal, but a type which should be true in
general as well as in particular. He would measure, for example, the
bones of a deer six months old and those of a deer six weeks old,
car