Young Tiger Playing with Its Mother

A tigress lies on sunlit rocky ground while her cub plays against her under a luminous sky. It catches a single moment in the middle of the action, the kind of scene the painters of the period loved to set down. Every figure has a part to play, and the story unfolds the longer you look.

Its palette, measured from the canvas, is led by rust, with chocolate and mustard in support: a mid-toned, warm picture. Those warm tones give it a glow that comes alive in lamplight and deepens as the evening draws in. The wide format lets the scene unfold from side to side, with something new to find towards its edges.

A wide canvas like this one is a natural focal point above a sofa, a sideboard or a bed, where its width can carry the wall. It brings a scene of everyday life to a kitchen or a dining room. Rust and chocolate are easy to echo in cushions, a throw or a painted wall nearby, and it holds its own in a mixed gallery wall.

Eugène Delacroix made the original in 1830; in the collection it is listed under Romanticism. It has the spirit of Romanticism, where mood, weather and feeling matter as much as the scene itself. This painting is printed to order on gallery-wrapped canvas in 30 × 40 cm or 40 × 60 cm, from the image you see here. The canvas wraps around its frame, so it arrives ready to hang, with no framing needed. Want yourself in it instead? Add a photo and see your portrait free before you order.