Auguste Nicholas Caïn was a noted French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 sculptor in the Animalier

Animalier

An animalier is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists...

s school, known for his portrayals of wild and domesticated animals.

Caïn was born in Paris, and studied under Rude, Guionnet, and Pierre-Jules Mêne

Pierre-Jules Mêne

Pierre Jules Mêne, , was a French Sculptor and animalière. He is considered the pioneer of animal sculpture in the nineteenth-century....

 (whose daughter he married in 1852). His first exhibit in the Salon of 1846 was a wax model of a linnet

Linnet

The Linnet is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.The Linnet derives its scientific name from its fondness for hemp and its English name from its liking for seeds of flax, from which linen is made.- Description :...

 defending her nest from a rat, later cast in bronze and shown at the 1855 Salon. Between 1846-1888, Caïn exhibited 38 models at the Salon.

From 1868 onwards he concentrated on monuments, including the Chiens de meute at the Château de Chantilly

Château de Chantilly

The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...

, Le Lion de Nubie et sa proie in the Jardin du Luxembourg

Jardin du Luxembourg

The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris (224,500 m²...

, and Tigress and Peacock in the Gardens of the Tuileries. In 1879 he assumed management of his father-in-law's foundry upon Mêne's death.

The son of Caïn was Henri Caïn

Henri Cain

Henri Caïn was a French dramatist, opera and ballet librettist. He wrote over forty librettos from 1893 to his death, for many of the most prominent composers of the Parisian Belle Epoque....

, well known librettist.

Selected works

• Tigre terrassant un crocodile, bronze (1873), jardin des Tuileries.
• Lion et lionne se disputant un sanglier, bronze, jardin des Tuileries (Copy, perhaps origninal in Central Park
  Central Park
  Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
  
   , New York
  New York
  New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
  
  , with donor's copy in Kelvingrove Park
  Kelvingrove Park
  Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the world-famous Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.-History:...
  
  , Glasgow
  Glasgow
  Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
  
  ).
• Deux lionnes attaquant un taureau, bronze, 1882, jardin des Tuileries
• Tigresse apportant un paon à ses petits, bronze (1873), jardin des Tuileries.
• Lionnes du Sahara, bronze (1867), deux exemplaires qui ornent la Porte des lions coté Nord de l'aile de Flore, le coté Sud arbore lui les Lions assis de Barye.
• La Tégresse Férieuse , bronze (1863) cadeau au Préfier de Télemcen ... Algerie (1866)
• Le Lion de Nubie et sa proie, bronze (1870), jardin du Luxembourg.