The Old Courtesan (La Belle qui fut heaulmière)

Auguste Rodin

modeled ca. 1885, cast 1910 · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Incorporated into the left pilaster on The Gates of Hell, the withered old woman evoked a moral connection between sin and the ravages of time. The harrowing veracity of the independent sculpture accords with a statement of Rodin’s: "Character is the intense truth of any natural [sight], beautiful or ugly."

Artist

Auguste Rodin

Date

modeled ca. 1885, cast 1910

Medium

Bronze

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910