Lion on the Watch, c. 1885. In addition to his fascination with the classical past, G?r?me was one of the leading painters of "orientalist" subjects-exotic and romantic themes inspired by Napoleonic adventures abroad, romantic literature, and European colonialism. From 1855, G?r?me travelled regularly in Turkey, Egypt, and Asia Minor. Long fascinated by African animals, he sketched lions in the Paris zoo as a student and later hunted them on safari in North Africa.