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The Nubians

The Nubians is a haut-relief sculpted in 1894 for the façade of the anthropology gallery of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. It shows a man thrusting a spear into the mouth of an alligator that is about to devour a young woman and her two infants, with a possible third woman fainting nearby. Barrias used figures of Nubians, echoing ethnographic sculpture by Charles Cordier, and rendered the reptile scales and cactus spines with naturalistic precision. The work reflects the stereotypes and colonial context of its time. Cast in bronze by Thiébaut frères, it was later assigned to the École nationale supérieure des arts et industries textiles in Roubaix and is now associated with the Musée d'Orsay.

The Nubians relief sculpture showing figures in a struggle with a spear, a seated woman and infant, and a rearing crocodile.
The Nubians relief sculpture displayed indoors in a museum hall.
© · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Nubians stone sculpture showing a standing man, a seated woman with a baby, and a crocodile over a fallen figure inside a vaulted hall.
The Nubians sculpture by Ernest Barrias, showing a dramatic stone scene with human figures and a crocodile inside a tall interior space.
© · CC BY 2.0
The Nubians relief showing a figure raising a spear over a large reptile while another lies fallen below, with a seated figure holding two infants in the background.
The Nubians, a stone relief depicting a tense encounter between spear-wielding figures and a large reptile.
January 2022 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Nubians sculpture showing a muscular figure with a spear fighting a crocodile, with a seated woman and two infants in the background.
The Nubians depicts a dramatic struggle with a crocodile, with additional figures carved behind the main scene.
January 2022 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Close-up of The Nubians sculpture showing a distressed woman holding two infants among foliage, with a long stick crossing the lower right.
Close-up of The Nubians sculpture, showing a woman holding two infants amid dense foliage.
January 2022 © · CC BY-SA 4.0

Identification

TitleThe Nubians
Original titleLe razze umane
TypeHigh relief sculpture

Historical context

Date1894
ContextContemporary with the first colonial exhibitions

Creator

ArtistBarrias

Discovery and provenance

Commissioned1893
Commission price12,000 francs
Original intended locationFacade of the anthropology gallery of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris
Acquired byThe French State in 1893 for the Natural History Museum
Delivered byThiébaut frères
Delivered tothe Dépôt des marbres
Delivery date1897
Assigned tothe Musée d'Orsay
Assignment date1903
Transferred by decree26 March 1986
Intended purposeTo represent the "human races"

Materials

MaterialBronze

Appearance

SettingOn the banks of a river
Vegetation depictedPalms, cacti, and swamp reeds
Composition detailThe alligator's tail extends out of the relief and touches the ground
StyleNaturalistic rendering of animal and botanical details, with reptile scales and cactus spines rendered with naturalist precision
Costume of figuresThe figures are represented wearing loincloths
Depicted sceneA scene meant to evoke the races of Africa, showing a man in a loincloth thrusting a spear into the mouth of an alligator that is about to devour a young woman and her two infants, with possibly another unconscious woman nearby

Iconography and meaning

Ethnographic influenceBarrias chose African-type figures in echo of the ethnographic sculptures of Charles Cordier
Historical referenceThe figures recall a 1878 attraction at the Jardin d'Acclimatation where Nubians in loincloths mimicked hunting scenes
InterpretationThe work echoes the stereotypes of the era about African populations
Title referenceThe title refers to the Nubians, an ancient African people who lived in present-day Sudan; in 19th-century France, the term was also widely used for contemporary peoples living in that part of sub-Saharan Africa

Location and ownership

Current display relationExhibited on the reverse side of Jules Coutan's high relief The Eagle Hunt
Current locationMusée d'Orsay
Earlier locationDesigned for the anthropology gallery of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris
Exhibition historyShown at the Salon of 1894