Type: Limited edition prints
Size: 48cm x 33cm
Tirage: 50 copies
A pencil drawing of The Eagle Slayer, a statue made in 1851 by the popular Victorian neo-classical sculptor, John Bell. The sculpture is made of cast iron, a material previously only used for industrial use. The sculpture shows a shepherd who, upon discovering one of his sheep has been killed by an eagle, fires an arrow and kills the eagle.
The Eagle Slayer was originally displayed at The Great Exhibition in 1851. It stood outside the original V&A building when it was the South Kensington Museum. The Eagle Slayer was once again reunited with this building when it was brought to Bethnal Green in 1927.
The sculpture is based on one of Aesop's fables: unwittingly we give to our adversaries the means of our own destruction. The eagle has just slain a lamb and the shepherd boy is exacting his revenge, he finds a feather dropped by the eagle. From the feather the boy fashions the most accurate arrow to shoot the bird on its return.
