Bull

1891·Glazed stoneware·55 × 59 × 30 cm (21 11/16 × 23 1/4 × 11 13/16 in.)

<p>This bull and its <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/246812/pelican">pelican</a> companion are in fact chimeras: imaginative beasts composed of disparate body parts from two or more animals. French sculptor Emmanuel Fremiet merged the contemporary fascination with medieval imagery—particularly gargoyles—with his lifelong zoological studies. The gothic influence shows in each creature’s set of batlike wings, while the pelican’s mismatched but eerily realistic frog body displays Fremiet’s naturalist bent.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1891
Medium: Glazed stoneware
Dimensions: 55 × 59 × 30 cm (21 11/16 × 23 1/4 × 11 13/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Emmanuel Frémiet

Artist

Emmanuel Frémiet

Sculpture

Emmanuel Frémiet was a French sculptor. He is famous for his 1874 sculpture of Joan of Arc in Paris and the monument to Ferdinand de Lesseps in Suez. The noted sculptor Pierre-Nicolas Tourgueneff was one of many students who learned sculpture under the tutelage of Frémiet.

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