This is one of many posters featuring Alphonse Steurs, the Belgian world wrestling champion, nicknamed “the Belgian Lion.” This stark image by an unknown artist is perhaps the most austere of the posters showing this rather intimidating-looking character, here seen naked from the waist up and gazing directly at the viewer against a black ground. Steurs won many international competitions between 1905 and 1924, fighting in the Greco-Roman category, a style of wrestling known for the length of its bouts and its extreme brutality.