Lot 147: Abraham Solomon (1824-1862)

Abraham Solomon (1824-1862)
The lion in love
signed 'A Solomon' (on the reverse)
oil on board
9 x 11 in. (22.8 x 28 cm.)

This is a preliminary sketch for the Royal Academy exhibit of 1858, no.558 (sold in Sotheby's, London, 12 November 1992). It depicts an elderly officer courting a young maiden as she sits at her embroidery. He fumbles to thread her needle while she waits, her hand outstretched, as if eager to proceed with her work and impatient with the hindrance of her unwelcome suitor.

The title of the painting alludes to Aesop's Fable, 'The Lion in Love', in which a lion is so overwhelmed by the charms of a young maiden that he asks her parents for her hand in marriage. Her parents are dismayed but while they oppose the marriage, they do not wish to anger the lion. The maiden's father agrees to consider the marriage, on one condition: that the lion should sacrifice his claws and teeth. The lion eagerly agrees and the fathers clips the lion's claws and pulls out his teeth. Once again, the lion returns to ask for the maiden's hand and the parents just laugh and bid him do his worst. One suspects this veteran may suffer a similar fate.