alb3659238

AUGUSTE RODIN. Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice. Artist: Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840-1917 Meudon). Culture: French, Paris. Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 48 3/4 × 31 1/8 × 25 3/8 in., 856 lb. (123.8 × 79.1 × 64.5 cm, 388.3 kg). Date: modeled ca. 1887, carved 1893.
The mythical poet Orpheus braved the underworld to rescue his dead wife, Eurydice. The gods allowed her ghost to follow him and regain life, provided that Orpheus did not look at her until both had reached the sunlit earth. Rodin depicts Eurydice's spirit floating in the underworld's dark entrance while Orpheus hesitates at the threshold. Because he cannot feel her phantom embrace, or hear her spectral voice, Orpheus turns to see if his beloved has come. An instant later he will glimpse her, and Eurydice will vanish. This exquisitely carved sculpture, one of the first Rodin works to come to America, is the only marble example of the composition.

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Author:

AUGUSTE RODIN (1840-1917)

Title:

Orpheus and Eurydice

Caption:

Orpheus and Eurydice. Artist: Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840-1917 Meudon). Culture: French, Paris. Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 48 3/4 × 31 1/8 × 25 3/8 in., 856 lb. (123.8 × 79.1 × 64.5 cm, 388.3 kg). Date: modeled ca. 1887, carved 1893. The mythical poet Orpheus braved the underworld to rescue his dead wife, Eurydice. The gods allowed her ghost to follow him and regain life, provided that Orpheus did not look at her until both had reached the sunlit earth. Rodin depicts Eurydice's spirit floating in the underworld's dark entrance while Orpheus hesitates at the threshold. Because he cannot feel her phantom embrace, or hear her spectral voice, Orpheus turns to see if his beloved has come. An instant later he will glimpse her, and Eurydice will vanish. This exquisitely carved sculpture, one of the first Rodin works to come to America, is the only marble example of the composition.

Technique/material:

Marble

Museum:

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Credit:

Album / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Releases:

Model: No - Property: No
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Image size:

3202 x 4268 px | 39.1 MB

Print size:

27.1 x 36.1 cm | 10.7 x 14.2 in (300 dpi)

Keywords:

AUGUSTE RODIN • EUROPE • EUROPEAN SCULPTURE AND DECORATIVE ARTS • FRANCE • MARBLE • MARBRE • METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, USA • PARIS • SCULPTURE