Christophe Fratin was born in Metz, France on January 1st 1801, the son of a taxidermist. He was a highly competent artist and one of the first of the French sculptors, along with Antoine Louis Barye, to successfully portray animals in bronze with a life-like realism. His understanding of both the anatomy of his subjects and their natural movements came from his youthful experiences helping his father in his taxidermy business.

Fratin first studied sculpture under Pioche in Metz but moved to Paris where he studied under the painter and sculptor Gericault. Fratin’s animal bronzes were very popular during his lifetime in America and England as well as Europe. In contrast to the dramatic and sometimes violent treatment that Barye portrayed in his compositions, Fratin’s work was more romantic and restful in its interpretation. However, he was unmatched in his ability to capture an animal at the exact moment of its being caught by a predator, or a bird in full flight.

Fratin exhibited widely, including at the Paris Salon and at the Great Exhibition in London. He received several monumental commissions in France, New York and other countries and his works are to be found in many museum collections including the Louvre, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.