Tiger and Cubs c. 1884

Jean-Léon Gérôme painted "Tiger and Cubs" using oil on canvas, a tradition dating back centuries. But it's not just the material that matters, it's the making. Gérôme’s technique involved carefully layering thin glazes of paint, a slow and meticulous process that built up the image gradually. The dark background was likely established first, followed by the rocks, water and finally the tigers themselves. Think of the amount of work and the cultural context of this painting. Gérôme was working within a very well-established academic tradition with a market that placed high value on realistic, detailed depictions, and that had everything to do with the rise of the middle class. There was also a growing fascination with the "exotic," with artists going to great lengths to bring the wild to their audiences. So, it’s not just a painting of tigers, it’s a window into a world of artistic labor, social values, and the human desire to capture and consume the natural world.