Éclaireurs attaqués par un tigre

Rousseau painted this tiger springing on two scouts in 1904, and here is the thing worth knowing: he had never seen a jungle. A retired Paris toll collector who took up painting seriously in middle age, he built his tropics out of the city's own hothouse. He would spend hours in the Jardin des Plantes, the botanical garden and zoo, sketching palms and big cats, then piece the rest together from postcards and illustrated magazines at a time when colonial France was hungry for images of far-off places. The result convinces on its own terms rather than as reportage. One scout still fights back with a raised spear while his horse rears, and the other has already gone over onto his back beneath the animal.