The brass sculpture above depicts Narasimha Avatar who is the fourth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He is Half man Half lion and represents the emergence of hands and fingers in animals - another step in the evolution of the human form from animals.
Prahlad was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He was the son of the Demon King Hiranyakashipu who made several attempts to kill him to stem any growth of devotion for someone other than Hiranyakashipu himself.
Hiranyakashipu was bestowed with the boon of Invicinbility which said that he would die neither at the hands of a human nor an animal, neither during the day nor at night, neither on earth nor in heavens, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither by fire nor by water or any other weapon.
To protect the innocent Prahlad from the invincible Hiranyakashipu, Lord Vishnu had to appear on earth as Narasimha Avatar (half man half animal). He killed Hiranyakashipu at dusk (neither day nor night) in the courtyard hall (thus being neither indoors nor outdoors) by tearing him apart with his bare nails and proceeded to lay the king on his thighs (thus neither on earth nor in the heavens).