Baby Robin

Paul Wayland Bartlett developed his abilities as an animalier while working under the French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet. They sketched and modeled animals at the Jardin des Plantes, a famous botanical garden in Paris. Frémiet usually depicted the peaceable side of animal life in his sculptures and often modeled his creatures in family groups. Bartlett followed this example in Baby Robin, in which the young bird is expressive without being depicted sentimentally. The inquisitive eyes and alert pose create an endearing image of a fragile creature.