Final Study for the Monument to Balzac

Auguste Rodin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1891 Rodin was commissioned to construct a posthumous monument to the illustrious literary figure Honoré de Balzac. It took the sculptor seven years to arrive at the final study from which this bronze was cast. Gaze fixed toward the horizon, a disheveled Balzac leans back, his body transformed by a shapeless oversize dressing gown into a dense and formidable monolith. Today Balzac’s shrouded figure is understood to be symbolic of the author’s imposing genius. Contemporary viewers, however, were baffled by its inarticulate form. The work provoked harsh criticism upon its debut in 1898, but Rodin defended it, explaining that "a man celebrated for his heart and mind should not be [represented by] his body."

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art