Sculpture, Leone - 24 cm - Wood

Impressive and vigorous carved wooden sculpture depicting a male lion caught in a cadenced, threatening pawing pose, with its jaws open in a powerful roar. The work fully sits within the celebrated and fortunate tradition of animalier sculpture in the late-19th to early-20th century taste.

The anatomical rendering is carried out with extraordinary plastic expressiveness: the full mane is rendered through vigorous gouge strokes that create a rich and vibrant play of light and shadow, while the musculature of the hindquarters and torso is carved with a strong sense of dynamism and volumetric mass. The posture, poised yet firmly anchored to the integrated rustic base, conveys a marked expressive and monumental energy.

The wooden surface, finely ebonized and wax-polished, returns brown, changing reflections that recall the appearance of the finest art bronzes of the period, testifying to the high technical skill and mastery of the carver G. Lietti. The work is mounted on a rectangular, stepped moulding base, also carved from the same block of wood.