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Lot 392
AUGUSTE RODIN (1840-1917)
Eve, petit modèle, Version à la base carrée dite aussi aux pieds plats
Closed30 June 2023
Price Realised
GBP 327,600
More Information
Specialist note
Conceived to flank La porte de l’enfer (The Gates of Hell), Eve is one of Auguste Rodin’s most celebrated sculptures. Inspired by the events of Dante’s The Divine Comedy, the monumental doorway reflects scenes from Inferno, the first book of the epic poem. The project was never completed and Rodin worked on it for 37 years until his death in 1917.
Rodin’s interpretation of Eve was intimately connected with his musings on sin while creating the commission, which he received from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1880. Condensed into one striking gesture of shame and recognition of her fall, Rodin’s sensual portrait captures the precise moment of Eve’s banishment from the Garden of Eden. The Fall is a significant theme in the history of Western art and literature, with the story being revisited by Milton in his epic Paradise Lost and by Baudelaire, whose collection of poetry Les Fleurs du mal was also a source of inspiration in the creation of The Gates of Hell. – Olivia Lund
Rodin’s interpretation of Eve was intimately connected with his musings on sin while creating the commission, which he received from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1880. Condensed into one striking gesture of shame and recognition of her fall, Rodin’s sensual portrait captures the precise moment of Eve’s banishment from the Garden of Eden. The Fall is a significant theme in the history of Western art and literature, with the story being revisited by Milton in his epic Paradise Lost and by Baudelaire, whose collection of poetry Les Fleurs du mal was also a source of inspiration in the creation of The Gates of Hell. – Olivia Lund