This statue takes its place with The Kiss and Eternal Springtime
as the best known of the amorous statues fashioned by Rodin.
Perhaps, because the original conception of The Gates of Hell
was to depict the punishment of The Inferno, Rodin's loving couples
prior to this time were united under a curse of sinfulness. The
three more popular statues came from the period when his life
was associated with that of Camille Claudel. The coincidence
probably brought about the transformation in style. Rodin once
said, "All that I have lived and loved I have made in my
art." His affair with the sculptress Camille Claludel was
certainly both physical and spiritual. Do these statues represent
his discovery of those dual aspects of love? The statue was cast
in plaster in 1889. Rilke, biographer and one time secretary
to the sculptor, wrote, "A girl on her knees, bends her
beautiful body backward. One does not dare to give it a meaning.
It has a thousand meanings."
This item is
imported from Italy. It is the same as that previously available
from Eleganza in Seattle |
