International Vulture Awareness Day is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of September. There are 23 extant species of “vultures” split between two distinct taxonomies: the “New World” Vultures, a monophyletic group comprised of 7 species from the Americas in the Cathartidae family, and the “Old World” Vultures, a polyphyletic group of 16 species from Europe, Africa, and Asia spread across the Gypaetinae and Aegypiinae subfamilies. Barye’s vultures are from the latter group, though I am not sure of the exact species (ID suggestions welcome!).
Antoine-Louis Barye (1795-1875) was a French animalier sculptor and painter. In addition to these two works, the Met has over 100 more of Barye’s works in its permanent collection, which you can browse here.