nted by a statue of Nelson.
To make the base of the column more imposing, it now seemed desirable
to place colossal bronze figures of lions at the four corners.

[Illustration: Fr. Hanfstaengl, photo. John Andrew & Son, Sc.
A LION OF THE NELSON MONUMENT
_Trafalgar Square, London_]

With characteristic thoroughness, the artist made his preparatory
studies. Two of these are rough sketches on canvas in the National
Gallery of London, and show distinctly the original data for his final
conception. Apparently they are studies from menagerie animals. One is
in profile, showing the beast as he creeps in snarling discontent
within the limited area of his cage. The other sketch has caught the
attitude of the animal lifting his head to scan an approaching
visitor. In these two studies, Landseer obtained the proper
proportions of the side face, from nosetip to ear, and the length of
the front face, from the crest of the mane to the lower jaw. They also
show completely the manner in which the mane grows, both along the
back and on each side the face.

It could not be expected that a man who had been all his life a
painter would immediately acquire proficiency as a sculptor. Landseer
had his lions under way nearly ten years, and in the mean time
practised himself in the new art by modelling the figure of a stag.
Certain qualities of sculpture he had already shown in some of his
paintings. The pose of the Newfoundland dog called A Distinguished
Member of the Humane Society is conceived in the spirit of plastic
art. So also is The Sleeping Bloodhound. When it came, therefore, to
modelling a figure, the artist understood well how to secure a
monumental pose. In this point his work is especially successful.

The lion lies in a grand, majestic attitude. The mane rises like a
crown on his brow, and falls in splendid masses on either side his
head. The mouth is open, and the expression a little mild for dignity.
One is reminded of the tamed spirit of the menagerie captive rather
than of the proud majesty of the animal in his native wilds. A work of
this sort must necessarily have a certain stiffness and
conventionality which we should not like in a painting.

It is said that Landseer modelled only a single figure, and the others
were cast from the same model with slight variations. When at last the
work was completed, the colossal figures were mounted on huge
pedestals radiating diagonally from the four corners of the squ