Study of a hand

Auguste Rodin

last quarter 19th–early 20th century · Cast plaster · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Rodin was fascinated by the expressive possibilities of hands: hands gesturing in anguish as in The Burghers of Calais, small studies of hands pulsing with life, giant enigmatic hands sufficient unto themselves. The poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), who was for a time Rodin's secretary, wrote: "There are among the works of Rodin's hands, single small hands, which without belonging to a body, are alive. Hands that rise, irritated and in wrath; hands whose five bristling fingers seem to bark like the five jaws of a dog of Hell."

Artist

Auguste Rodin

Date

last quarter 19th–early 20th century

Medium

Cast plaster

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Auguste Rodin, 1912