Gorilla defeating a Gladiator ("Retiaire et Gorille")
Gorilla defeating a Gladiator ("Retiaire et Gorille")
3D
Published 2018-10-08T10:51:11+00:00
This is one of the most deeply unsettling and visually arresting sculptures exhibited in Europe in the 19th century. Fremiet was a skilled sculptor first known for his careful observations of animals. Later, he produced larger groups like this, capturing dramatic combats between man and beast. This shocks viewers because they showed the animal as victorious, breaking with previously established sculptural traditions.
Fremiet's depiction of a gorilla triumphant over a human had a particular impact and resonance at this time. Europeans had only discovered gorillas in about 1850 and were fascinated by them. In 1871, Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man had spelt out the shared ancestry of humans and modern apes. Darwin and others sparked vigorous contemporary debates about the place of humans in the natural world order.
| Date published | 08/10/2018 |
| Title | Gorilla defeating a Gladiator ("Retiaire et Gorille") |
| Date | 1876 |
| Accession | no. A.8-2017 |
| Medium | Terracotta |
| Credit | Purchased with support from V&A Members, and the Captain H.B.Murray and Dr W.L.Hildburgh bequests |
| Artist | Emmanuel Frémiet |
| Place | Victoria and Albert Museum, London |