The Fallen Angel, or Illusions Received by the Earth (La Chute d'un ange, ou Les Illusions reçues par la Terre)
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Like Bacchantes Embracing and Damned Women (both on view nearby), this work presents a scene of lovemaking between two women, with a title that transports the figures to a time or place removed from the viewer’s own. The Fallen Angel appears set in a world of allegory, with the crouching woman, perhaps symbolizing the earthly realm, drawing the winged female into a gentle embrace. Both figures seem to emerge organically from the ground.
Caption
Auguste Rodin French, 1840–1917. The Fallen Angel, or Illusions Received by the Earth (La Chute d'un ange, ou Les Illusions reçues par la Terre), by 1900; cast before 1952. Bronze, 20 1/2 x 32 3/4 x 22 1/4 in. (52.1 x 83.2 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, 84.77.5. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.77.5_SL3.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Cast by
Title
The Fallen Angel, or Illusions Received by the Earth (La Chute d'un ange, ou Les Illusions reçues par la Terre)
Date
by 1900; cast before 1952
Geography
Place made: France
Medium
Bronze
Classification
Dimensions
20 1/2 x 32 3/4 x 22 1/4 in. (52.1 x 83.2 x 56.5 cm)
Signatures
Top of base near feathers on side with pointing hand: "A. Rodin"
Markings
Lower edge, long side with seated figure's left knee: "ALEXIS RUDIER./FONDEUR. PARIS."
Credit Line
Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor
Accession Number
84.77.5
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Tell me more.
Rodin enjoyed experimenting with depictions of lesbian intercourse and affection but he had to take precaution with the names, which transformed them into allegories and made them more socially acceptable.Tell me more.
Rodin did several sculptures of intertwined bodies that seem to organically rise up from the earth.This work presents a scene of lovemaking between two women. One figure perhaps symbolizes the earthly realm and the other, with wings, would be the angel.
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