The Three Shades

Auguste Rodin|Georges Rudier

modeled between 1881 and 1886, cast 1969 · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The Shades are three separate casts of the same figure that has been rotated into different positions. Each is a small version of the monumental bronze Adam (11.173.1) that Rodin once planned to place at one side of The Gates of Hell. In the final version of The Gates, the Shades stood above the center of the lintel and personify the dead. The chocolate brown color of this group reveals its identity as a modern cast. Bronzes made before Rodin’s death in 1917 generally were patinated almost black and flecked with green, as is seen in the lifetime casts of Adam, Eve (11.173.2) and the Thinker (11.173.9).

Artist

Auguste Rodin|Georges Rudier

Date

modeled between 1881 and 1886, cast 1969

Medium

Bronze

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1984