La prise du renard or Chasse en Ecosse

The most ambitious of Mêne's Scottish-inspired bronze compositions, La prise du renard or, as it is more often referred, Chasse en Ecosse, was first exhibited in wax at the Salon of 1861. Silver versions re-titled as The Death of the Fox subsequently formed part of Mêne's medal winning stands at the 1862 London and 1867 Paris International Exhibitions. The huntsman with the fox, together with the hound that appears between them, was also edited as a single-figure group on a round base, entitled Ecossais montrant un renard à un chien. Although Mêne never visited Britain, his admiration for Sir Edwin Landseer's highland paintings and his interest in le style écossais are manifested in the present work. The sculptor's enthusiasm for Landseer was no doubt encouraged by his close friend, the painter and sculptor Rosa Bonheur, although he must have known Landseer's work first-hand through the latter's exhibits at the Paris Salon, and through his widely published engravings.