A section of Eugne Delacroix'sStudy of Reclining LionsHtel DrouotFrench auctioneer Malo de Lussac was examining the contents of a property in Frances central region of Touraine when he came across a treasure: an original oil-on-canvas painting by Eugne Delacroix, one of Frances great 19th-century Romantic artists.Titled Study of Reclining Lions, the previously unknown painting has been owned by the same family since the mid-1800s, as La Nouvelle Rpubliques Julien Proult reports. Later this month, its heading to auction, where its expected to fetch up to $330,000.The owners were not sure that it was a Delacroix, De Lussac tells Agence France-Presse (AFP), per a translation by Artnets Brian Boucher. When I arrived in the living room, my gaze was attracted by his magnetism. It was very moving. Delacroixs works are seen very regularly in museums but very little in private hands. The24- by 20-inch canvas had been hanging in a family's living room. Htel DrouotThe 24- by 20-inch canvas depicts seven lions lounging in a palette of ochres and deep browns, according to a statement from Htel Drouot, an auction house in Paris. The lions bodies are visibly muscular, and their expressive faces are framed by flowing manes. Six of the animals are depicted in detail, while the seventh is a simple line sketch.Born in 1798, Delacroix made his artisticdebut at the Paris Salon, a prestigious exhibition sponsored by the French government, in 1822, when he showed his first masterwork,The Barque of Dante. The young artists work was characterized by rich, vivid colors, and he quickly became a leader of the Romantic movement. One of his most famous pieces is Liberty Leading the People, painted in response to the July Revolution of 1830.Liberty Leading the People, Eugne Delacroix, 1830 Eugne Delacroix / Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsDelacroix was also partial to wild beasts, especially lions, which he painted often, per the statement. The artist frequented theJardin des Plantes menagerie in Paris, which housed captive tigers and lions. He also studied taxidermy and observed animal dissections on several occasions.How necessary it is to stick ones head out of doors and try to read from creation, which has nothing in common with cities and the works of man, Delacroix oncewrote.When one of the menageries lions, Coco, died in 1829, Delacroix wrote to inform his friend, sculptorAntoine-Louis Barye, with whom hed often observed the animals. The lion is dead, Delacroix wrote. Ride at full speed!Over about a decade, Delacroix painted a series called The Lion Hunt, which depicted violent confrontations between lions and horsemen bearing swords, spears and shields. Writing for Artnet in 2018, critic Ben Davis called one of these worksStudy for Lion Hunt (185556)a career-summarizing manifesto and an example of art as the quest for intense sensation.The recently discovered Study of Reclining Lions comes with two pieces of documentation, according to thelot listing: a 1973 certificate from collectorPierre Dieterle and a 1966 letter written byLee Johnson, a Delacroix specialist. The paintings back is also marked with the wax seal from Delacroixs studio sale, which occurred the year after his death in 1863.This painting is De Lussacs second big discovery in the past two years: In 2023, he appraised a piece that turned out to be an authentic work by Pieter Bruegel the Younger, a famous 17th-century Flemish artist. I was very, very surprised, De Lussac told the Washington Posts Jonathan Edwards in 2023. It sold for about $850,000.Study of Reclining Lions is now on display at Htel Drouot, where it will be auctioned on March 28.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Art, Art History, Artists, Arts, Auctions, Cool Finds, France, Painters, Painting