Hannibal’s First Victory (Annibal. Oeuvre de jeunesse)

“The animal in its fury enwrapped him in the beating of its wings; he strained it against his breast, and as it died his laughter increased, piercing and proud like the clashing of swords.” 
(Gustave Flaubert, Salammbo)
Literature permeated Bourdelle's work, and he liked to refer to himself as a “poet”. He soon became an illustrator for the works of his contemporaries. Thus Flaubert's novel Salammbo (1862) gave the young artist the idea for the subject of his inaugural work, Hannibal’s First Victory. Young Hannibal, future General in the Carthaginian army, is holding an open-winged eagle at arm's length. While it is a graphic translation of the sculpture, the drawing has none of the cruelty of Flaubert’s narrative. All scratches and welts, rapid contours and violent shadows, the battle is less a massacre than a phenomenal climax. The smudges of black ink, the yellowing of the paper, and the use of squared paper, betray the ardour of youth and the fervour of the schoolboy. Full of vitality, even the Parnassian poet José-Maria de Heredia (1842-1905) was charmed by it: 
“ I will see Hannibal at the Salon and we shall arrange for me to come and admire your beautiful drawings.” (Letter from José-Maria de Heredia to Antoine Bourdelle, [1885], Paris, Musée Bourdelle).

Colin Lemoine