A French bronze prowling lion, late 19th or early 20th century.  After Louis Vidal, inscribed to base. .A lean and muscled roaring lion with dense mane on the prowl, with rich patina, signed "Vidal 1874". Louis Vidal (French, 1831?1892) pursued a very successful career in sculpture in despite a childhood disease that eventually took his sight. A student of the sculptor Barye, Vidal exhibited his work at the Paris Exposition of 1855 and then at the Paris Salon from 1859 until 1882. The Lion is a bronze cast of a plaster lion Vidal originally showed at the Paris Salon in 1868. As legend has it, Barye introduced him to a lion at a Paris zoo. Vidal was allowed to run his hands over the cat in order to visualize his subject. Measures approximately 25inches long  x 14" high. CONDITION: Excellent