Cats in Art: Lion Biting Some Guy's Ass at Versailles (sculptor TBD)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art.  Having moved on from Stefano Zuffi's marvelous work, The Cat in Art, I am now using some ideas from Caroline Bugler's equally impressive book, The Cat/3500 Years of the Cat in Art.  You really should check out and/or own both of these wonderful works, easily available on Amazon or eBay (and I have no financial interest).

The bride and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in France where we were privileged to see both the Louvre and Orsay Museums.  Of the two, the Orsay was waaaaay better--less crowded, could get closer to the paintings, more cats.  Much more on those kitties in the weeks to come.

But first, this post shows a rather unusual outdoor sculpture on the garden grounds of the Palace of Versailles.  The bride and I had walked out back to see the famous sculpture of Apollo where he comes roaring out of the water on his chariot (I'll include a photo of it at the bottom just as a bonus, regrettably sans chats)

Then we came upon this rather interesting outdoor work:

Now a tad closer....

And finally the kitty close-up:

Image credit Gary, on my iPhone.  The sculpture is at least full-sized, if not slightly larger.  This day was our only instance of rain on the trip, so I passed on photographing the statue's title plate to stay dry (the umbrellas were, of course, on the bus).  

Upon our return to the U.S. I did a quickie search to try to find the sculptor and title--and failed--so I'll keep trying so I can give proper credit, which is important to me.

At any rate, the message of the sculpture is quite clear: this guy was clearly out of line in some manner; one had better behave, for one never knows when a cat may even the scales justice by biting some deserving miscreant in the ass.  

No worries for the general population, for cats will strike solely in the case of misbehavior (for cats are nothing if not scrupulously fair).  Believe me.

Now the bonus huge Apollo sculpture.  No kitties, just pure, beautiful art:

[Gary note: With my Cats in Arts posts, I encourage you to scope out the art appreciation site Artsy (I have no financial interest in the site, I just like it), where you can explore many aspects of the world of art.  You'll certainly be entertained and enlightened!]